JEDDAH: Saudi security forces have been waging a relentless war against terror and deviant radicalism since May 2003. The Interior Ministry has been following a strategy of prevention, caution and cure in dealing with terror.
Terror acts in the Kingdom date back to 1979 when a group of militants driven by deviant ideology under Juhaiman bin Saif Al-Otaibi attacked the Grand Mosque. Their attempts were foiled and the perpetrators were tracked down to their hideouts.
There were 19 men in the earliest list of Al-Qaeda militants issued by the Interior Ministry. As part of the ministry's initial strategy of direct confrontation, thousands of security men were deployed at checkpoints in various parts of the country to look for militants. Many were arrested at their hideouts or while fleeing.
A number of deviants including some of their top figures, such as Abdul Aziz Al-Muqrin, who carried the title of the commander of Al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia, were eliminated in various confrontations. However, the authorities changed their strategy following a ensuing drop in terrorist operations.
The fresh strategy adopted by Assistant Minister of Interior for Security Affairs Prince Muhammad bin Naif stressed preemptive strikes against the members and supporters of terror and deviant ideologies.
The strategy, which received wide support from the public, resulted in foiling 200 terror plots over the past 10 years. In such plots, militants targeted government and oil installations on the one hand and state and military officials on the other. All the arrested men were put on trial.
In a simultaneous move, the Interior Ministry set up a specialized department to track down terror financing apart from tasking the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency to rein in money laundering. Banking operations and activities of charity organizations were also monitored.
Security authorities apprehended many wanted militants and seized caches of weapons and money and deactivated many cells in 38 preemptive operations between 2003 and 2009. Those who sheltered them or incited them with deviant ideologies were also arrested. The operations resulted in the death of 32 terrorists and wounding of four while four security men were killed and 29 injured.
In an apparent bid to wean away militants from deviant ideology and bring them to the social mainstream the Ministry of Interior established the Prince Muhammad bin Naif Center for Counseling and Care.
Unfortunately, Saudi Arabia has been one of the countries that suffered the most from the menace of terror.
In a recent study, Col. Naif Al-Marwani listed the terror attacks that took place in the Kingdom.
After the terror reared its ugly head in 1979, three Saudi airplanes were hijacked in 1984 and 1985, Al-Marwani pointed out.
Arguably the deadliest of the attacks occurred during the Haj of 1987 in which 400 people were killed. Investigations established the involvement of foreign hands in the attack.
In 1989, three explosions were reported in Makkah, in which at least one expatriate died. However, the rate of terror activities fell considerably in 1994 and 1995 with only two incidents in which seven people were killed. No tragic incidents were reported in the period between 1990 and 1993. In 1996 a blast killed 19 and injured 206 in Alkhobar. Five attacks with two deaths were recorded in 2000. In the period between 2001 and 2006 there were 80 terror explosions, attacks and plane hijacking in various parts of the Kingdom, which resulted in 247 deaths and 518 injuries apart from 39 deaths of security officials and material loss estimated at more than SR1 billion.
However, in the period between 2007 and 2009 there were only three terror attacks in which three wanted militants and three security personnel were killed.
A total of 939 were killed and 1,317 injured in 101 terror incidents during the entire period.
The last of the major terror acts was a foiled suicide bombing to blow up Prince Muhammad bin Naif last year.
No terror attacks against foreigners occurred in 1997, 1998 and 1999. But there were four incidents in 2000, two each in 2001 and 2002 and four in 2003. The recorded attacks in 2004 jumped to 12 with a total of 87 deaths and 524 injuries.
In an effort to encourage the Saudi public to cooperate in the terror combat, the authorities offer SR1 million to anyone who supplies information that leads to the arrest of a terrorist while the reward is SR5 million if anyone supplies information about a terror cell. On the other hand, reward for anyone supplying information to foil a terror attack is SR7 million.
It is also noteworthy that Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah called for the establishment of an international center for the combat of terrorism while opening an international conference on terrorism in Riyadh in 2005.
The government in 2004 announced pardon for any militant who turned himself in a specified period.
The government also honors security men who participate in anti-terrorism operations in addition to adopting the families of those killed in action.
Security personnel fighting terror have been specially trained for the operations and supplied with the most advanced technology to track down them.
The Kingdom has also set up a special court in Riyadh to prosecute militants.
The Kingdom's fight against terror has been commended by personalities as high as US President Barack Obama. A White House statement commended the role of the Saudi Arabia in stopping terror attacks in the United States by supplying vital information about the parcel bombs.
© Arab News 2010
