The man who was atop of Saudi Arabia’s most wanted list, the leader of the Saudi Arabian branch of Al Qaeda, has been killed in a fierce gunfight with security forces there.
This is potentially a big story for both Saudi Arabia and for the overall war against terrorism. The AP reports:
Security forces killed al-Qaida’s leader in Saudi Arabia, who topped the nation’s list of most-wanted militants, during a fierce gunbattle Sunday, an Interior Ministry official said.
Younis Mohammed Ibrahim al-Hayari, a Moroccan, was killed during a dawn raid by security forces on an area in the capital where suspected militants were hiding, the official was quoted by the official Saudi Press Agency as saying.
Three other unidentified suspects were arrested, and weapons, ammunition, computers and documents were seized, he said.
The clashes took place in the Rawdah district, an upscale neighborhood in eastern Riyadh, Interior Ministry spokesman Lt. Gen. Mansour al-Turki said.
The unidentified official quoted by SPA said al-Hayari headed Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida network in the kingdom, which has been ravaged by terrorist attacks during more than two years of violence.
“He (al-Hayari) was nominated by his peers, and following the death of those preceding him, to be the head of sedition and corruption in the land,” the official said in the SPA report.
Al-Hayari topped a list issued Tuesday of 36 most-wanted militants sought for participation in previous terror attacks in the kingdom dating back to 2003. On Wednesday, Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef warned that more attacks were possible.
Al-Hayari was believed to have had close ties to Abdul Karim al-Majati, an al-Qaida leader killed in April 2005.
Is this an isolated case? Apparently not:
The kingdom then launched a wave of retaliatory raids against the militants, and issued a list of 26 most wanted in December 2003. Security forces have killed or captured 23 of the 26 figures on that list.
This is important for two reasons:
- The Saudis have come under intense fire in many quarters for helping to bankroll Wahhabism. A big chunk of the 911 terrorists were Saudis. From the standpoint of cooperation in at least going after some of the top bad guys on the list, it’s big progress.
- The Saudis elites know full well THEY are at the top of Al Qaeda’s list. This also reflects a battle of self-preservation.
Also note that the heat was on Al-Hayari, Sofia News Agency reports:”Al-Hayari, who is 36 and has a wife and child, entered Saudi Arabia in 1991 to undertake the Haj pilgrimage. He has reportedly not left the country since then and has gone underground. He was last seen east of the capital, Riyadh.”
MORE READING:
–Saudi-Arabia’s new list of wanted terrorists
—Frontline on Saudi Arabia and Wahhabism
—Time Magazine on Saudi Arabia and Wahhabism
—Wikipedia on Wahhabism
–The Al-Qaeda Threat to Saudi Arabia’s Oil Sector
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.