The fact that money-soaked Saudi Arabia is a hotbed of terrorists is becoming more and more clear. We can only hope that the Saudi government elements who are now motivated to stamp out the threat are serious and able to overcome internal, competing factions who either support the jihadists or are at least committed to continuing the blackmail-based status quo. The Bush administration needs to further toughen its stance on Saudi accomodationism.
The Saudi government's vigorous pursuit of al-Qaida has exposed a nationwide terrorist arsenal that experts believe is being fortified by a steady supply of illegal arms pouring across the kingdom's borders.Posted by Alan at December 8, 2003 06:01 AMWhile Saudi authorities are confident their six-month assault has al-Qaida on the run, huge stockpiles of arms and explosives uncovered in the investigations show that the terrorists have been able to assemble immense destructive force.
Many of the weapons cross the border from Yemen, where Saudi authorities say they disrupt smuggling attempts on an hourly basis. A just-released report by the United Nations warns that the region is "awash in weapons" readily available to terrorist groups.
Over the last six months, beginning with the first of two devastating terrorist attacks in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, authorities have uncovered surface-to-air missiles, belts of explosives for suicide bombers, rocket-propelled grenades, hundreds of Soviet-era rifles and hundreds of thousands of rounds of ammunition.
Authorities have repeatedly found evidence that al-Qaida's scattered cells in Saudi Arabia may be armed with surface-to-air missiles.
via the Houston Chronicle