Sunday, December 28, 2003
Saudi Arabia arrests 4,000; seizes arms along Yemen border
Agence France-Presse Riyadh, December 27
Saudi authorities, who are engaged in a massive crackdown on Islamic extremists, have arrested more than 4,000 "infiltrators" in the south of the kingdom along the border with Yemen, state media said on Saturday.
The official SPA news agency said 4,047 "infiltrators" were arrested and a large quantity of weapons and ammunition were seized in Najran province. However, it did not say when the arrests and seizures were made.
"Security authorities in Najran province were able to thwart a number of attempted smuggling (operations) and infiltrations," it said.
A total of 4,047 infiltrators were captured, while a number of machine-guns along with their ammunition were seized.
Also seized were a large quantity of dynamite sticks and detonators, as well as "a quantity of alcohol (which is banned in Saudi Arabia), hashish and qat (a narcotic shrub widely used in Yemen)," according to SPA.
Saudi authorities, who in the past reported arrests and arms seizures along the border with Yemen, have stepped up the hunt for Islamist militants blamed for a series of suicide bombings in Riyadh in May and November that left more than 50 people dead. Hundreds of terror suspects have been rounded up.
Yemen, also under US pressure to crack down on suspected sympathizers of Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda terror network, has also been tracking down militants.
© Hindustan Times Ltd. 2003.