Saudi Anti-Terror Arrests
On June 25, 2008, Saudi Arabian officials announced that they had arrested 701 members of a terrorist cell allegedly connected with Al Queda. Of the initial arrests, which took place over the course of six months, 520 remain in custody.1
Purportedly, the group had been planning a series of attacks on a wide range of targets in Saudi Arabia, including major oil infrastructure.1
Fast Facts
- Arrests took place over six months2
- 701 people arrested1
- 520 remain in custody1
- 181 released due to lack of evidence1
- Group linked to Al Qaeda1
- Allegedly were planning attacks on several targets in Saudi Arabia1
- Allegedly planned to use car bombs2
- Targets included oil industry infrastructure2
- Last major terrorist attack in Saudi Arabia occurred in 20062
- Saudi Arabia announced it had arrested 208 terrorists in November 20072
Quotes
"Security forces managed to arrest one cell in the Eastern Province led by African residents...their concern was to get close to people working in the oil sector in order to find work in oil installations"2—Saudi Arabia Interior Ministry, Reuters
"Effectively, Saudi Arabia operates its own Guantanamo...Saudi security services operate a string of prisons where these kind of people go in, along with your ordinary dissident, and nobody will ever hear from them again."1—Christoph Wilcke, Human Rights Watch, CNN
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