 |
|
"(Suspects)
belong to the same groups hunted by security forces and they are
linked to the al-Qaeda," Prince Nayef said
|
WASHINGTON,
Aug 13 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - An American official
claimed Wednesday, August 13, that a group of suspected militants
arrested by Saudi officials in a shootout Tuesday, August 13, were
plotting an attack against commercial aircraft at Riyadh's main airport.
The
official, speaking to Agence France-Presse (AFP) on condition of
anonymity, said Saudi authorities had discovered a document indicating
the suspects placed King Khalid International Airport (KKIA) under
surveillance in preparation for a possible attack.
The
discovery was properly the reason that British Airways immediately
suspended flights to Saudi Arabia until further notice, citing
"credible intelligence" of a threat from British intelligence,
the official said.
He
added that the State Department was likely to issue a new travel warning
for Saudi Arabia warning of "terrorist threats" to commercial
aviation.
On
Tuesday, Saudi police staged a raid in the Al-Suwaidi residential
district in southern Riyadh, in which three security officers
were killed and several suspects were captured.
A
senior Saudi interior ministry official said another 10 presumed
militants fled the scene.
"They
belong to the same groups hunted by security forces and they are linked
to the al-Qaeda network and its ideology," Interior Minister Prince
Nayef bin Abdul Aziz told AFP.
The
American official said Tuesday's raid was "linked to the discovery
of a car with the KKIA casing document" as well as a shootout
between Saudi police and suspected extremists on Sunday.
He
said the document indicated that there had been extensive surveillance
of the airport conducted by the suspects arrested on Tuesday and those
still at large.
"Saudi
security officials are now aggressively looking for a number of specific
individuals," added the U.S. official.
Grounded
British
Airways said it had grounded flights from London to both Riyadh and
Jeddah after talks with Britain's Department of Transport.
A
transport department spokesman said there had been "credible
intelligence of a serious threat to UK aviation interests in Saudi
Arabia", also refusing to specify the risk.
BA
declined to say whether the suspension of its flights was linked to the
alleged plot.
"As
a matter of precaution we have decided to suspend all flights to Saudi
Arabia for the time being and we will continue to liaise closely with
the British government," BA's director of safety and security,
Geoff Want, said in a statement.
In
May, the British government ordered BA and other British airlines to
suspend flights to Kenya after warning of an "imminent" threat
to aircraft there.
It
followed a failed attempt in November 2002 to shoot down an Israeli
tourist jet with shoulder-launched rockets as the plane took off from
the Kenyan port city of Mombasa,
an attack blamed on al-Qaeda.
Britain's
Foreign Office has since May warned nationals against non-essential
travel to Saudi Arabia, but has not since increased its warnings.
In
the run-up to the Iraq war in March, BA and other airlines grounded
flights to Saudi Arabia and other Middle East destinations.
These
have now been restored, and on Tuesday the airline said it would begin
flights to Iraq for the first time in 13 years after receiving
permission from the U.S.-led occupation authority.
The
airline plans to fly a Boeing 777 service to the southern port of Basra
twice a week, via Kuwait, though a date has not yet been set for when
flights will restart, it said.
