Hijack plot is thwarted, officials say
Three suspects were planning a suicide attack, a source said.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) -- Three Al-Qaida suspects arrested in Saudi Arabia this week planned to hijack a plane from the southwestern port city of Jiddah, Saudi security officials said.
The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, offered few other details on the three arrested Monday in Jiddah. But Nawaf Obaid, a private Saudi oil security analyst with close contacts to the Saudi government, said the three were part of a larger cell that was "in the process of carrying out suicide attacks against landmarks in the kingdom."
The scenario recalled the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States, in which hijackers believed to be part of an Al-Qaida cell slammed planes into New York's World Trade Center and the Pentagon in Washington.
The security officials said the three suspects had targeted a Sudan-bound flight.
Heightened tensions
Saudi security officials had first announced Tuesday that three suspected Al-Qaida militants had been arrested in Jiddah in sweeps after last week's Riyadh suicide bombings. It was unclear whether investigators believe the three men were connected to the Riyadh bombings.
Reports of a hijacking plot and the targeting of Saudi landmarks, along with the audiotape, were likely to heighten tensions in an already fearful kingdom. Britain, Germany and Italy joined the United States in closing diplomatic offices in Saudi Arabia for at least a few days starting today after officials warned of new terror plots and U.S. authorities raised the national terror alert level.
Police patrolled the Saudi capital in camouflaged vehicles today and erected concrete barriers in front of major hotels, part of growing efforts to guard against terrorist attacks like the ones that killed 34 people last week.
Al-Hamra compound, one of the three hit in the May 12 attacks, was heavily fortified, with a police checkpoint on the approaching road about 50 yards from the main gate and the road blocked off on the other side, allowing entrance from just one direction.
Al-Qaida link?
Authorities have linked the May 12 Riyadh attacks to Saudi-born dissident Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaida terror network. But in a newspaper interview published today, Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah, cautioned that he had no solid information about a connection.
"As to whom these people are, some say they belong to Al-Qaida, but I don't have accurate information that confirms it," Abdullah told Al-Siyassah, a Kuwaiti daily.
He said the Saudi leadership "will not have mercy on these people, those who sympathize with them, and those who cover up for them."
Four suspects were already in custody for the Riyadh car bombings, which killed 34 people, including eight Americans, two Britons and nine attackers. Nearly 200 people were wounded.
Suicide strikes
A Saudi official said on condition of anonymity Tuesday that investigators were aware of about 50 militants, some now dead, believed to belong to three Saudi cells, including the one that carried out the May 12 bombings. Another cell has fled Saudi Arabia and the third is at large in the kingdom, the official said.
The official indicated the surviving militants were ready to volunteer for more suicide strikes, were tied to Al-Qaida and had hard-core sympathizers numbering "in the low hundreds."
In response, a number of foreigners have left the country, and some international companies have urged employees' dependents to return home. Today, the International Schools Group, which runs at least 10 schools in Saudi Arabia, announced on its Web site that its schools would close immediately for the rest of the school year "in light of the continued threats to the safety and security of expatriate students."
Government warnings
The U.S. Embassy in Kuwait reminded American citizens in Kuwait to be "especially cautious and vigilant during this period of heightened concern." The message said terrorist actions against U.S. interests in the Middle East could include suicide operations, bombings, kidnappings and use of non-conventional weapons.
In Washington, the government raised the national terrorism alert to orange, signifying a "high" risk of attacks, from yellow, meaning an "elevated" risk.
"The U.S. intelligence community believes that Al-Qaida has entered an operational period worldwide, and this may include attacks in the United States," Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said.
CIA Director George Tenet paid a brief visit Riyadh on Tuesday, a U.S. Embassy official said on condition of anonymity. He declined to say whom Tenet met and what they discussed. Tenet arrived from Kuwait and left after a few hours.
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