Country Reports on Terrorism 2007 - Saudi Arabia

The Government of Saudi Arabia continued to confront terrorism and extremist ideologies, though with varying degrees of success. The country suffered two high-profile terrorist incidents: the shooting of four French citizens and the violent murder of a high-ranking Saudi colonel. Saudi security forces managed to capture or kill most of the assailants involved in the two incidents and successive government roundups resulted in hundreds of arrests that likely disrupted terrorist cells planning to carry out attacks in the Kingdom. The Saudi government continued its efforts to disrupt terror-related financial flows. Cooperation with the United States resulted in the arrests of 16 Saudi-based terrorism financiers and the successful implementation of new Saudi Customs cash courier regulations. The United States continued to urge Saudi Arabia to establish a Charities Commission to oversee all private charitable activities.

In February, a group of armed men attacked nine French nationals traveling near the city of Medina. Four of the victims were killed, including one teenager. By June, security forces had captured or killed all individuals suspected of being involved in the attack. In mid-April, a police colonel serving in Al-Qasim was found decapitated at his family rest house in Al-Qusaiah. The murder was widely believed to have been carried out by terrorists. Security forces later detained 30 people in connection to the murder. This was not the first time that terrorists attacked and killed a member of the security forces. In June 2005, terrorists murdered a lieutenant colonel in Mecca just outside his home.

The Saudi security forces continued efforts to make Saudi Arabia inhospitable for terrorists and their supporters. The security forces arrested 380 individuals suspected of involvement in terrorism during operations conducted throughout 2007. The announcements were widely reported in the press and may have bolstered a perception among the public that terrorism remained a threat but that the government continued to combat terrorism within the Kingdom actively. According to the Ministry of the Interior, these attacks neutralized several terror cells and prevented several planned attacks, including an imminent attack on an unnamed Saudi oil installation. Some of those arrested had allegedly received flight training abroad, while others planned to mount attacks against Saudi oil facilities or to murder public officials. Some of those arrested were planning to travel to Iraq or Afghanistan as foreign fighters.

To address the enduring concern over foreign fighters returning to Saudi Arabia from Iraq or Afghanistan, the Saudi government continued plans to construct a border security system. During the first half of the year, Saudi border guards seized large amounts of weapons and explosives from smugglers transiting the Saudi-Iraqi border and the Saudi-Yemeni border. They also apprehended a large number of individuals attempting to enter the Kingdom illegally and, through their investigations, located caches of weapons and explosives at undisclosed locations in the desert.

Saudi Arabia increased its efforts to disrupt terror-related financing in the Kingdom. In the past year, the Saudi government arrested more than thirty individuals suspected of financing terrorism. However, in the case of ten individuals arrested in February, some activists protested against the arrests and testified to the legitimate reform efforts of some of these individuals.

Despite these steps, the United States continued to urge the Government of Saudi Arabia to pursue and prosecute terrorist financiers more vigorously. The Saudi Government took action against suspected terrorism financiers by freezing their accounts and confiscating their assets. Saudi Arabia continued to comply with obligations under the UNSCR 1267 Sanctions regime, which included freezing assets of and enforcing a travel ban on three Saudi nationals designated in October.

New cash courier regulations in Saudi Arabia were put in place to curb illegitimate cross-border cash flows. Travelers transiting all 17 Saudi ports of entry were now required to declare cash, jewels, and precious metals with a value in excess of 16,000 USD. In the weeks preceding Ramadan, the Ministry of Interior reiterated Saudi law prohibiting the placement of donation collection boxes in department stores, shopping centers, pharmacies, mosques, and hospitals. The Saudi government had still not established its National Committee for Relief and Charity Work Abroad (Charities Commission). As a stop-gap, the Saudi government decreed that no local charities could send funds abroad until the Charities Commission was established.

Over the past year, Sheikh Abdul Aziz Bin Muhammad Al-Asheikh, the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, made statements undermining financial support for terrorism. During the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the Grand Mufti delivered a sermon in which he cautioned young Saudis against traveling abroad under the pretext of jihad – a vague reference to joining the insurgency in Iraq. In the same speech, he urged Saudi citizens not to finance terrorism and be mindful of how their charitable contributions are distributed. In late November, the Grand Mufti declared that "deviant groups" guilty of corrupting society should be subject to severe punishment in accordance with Islamic law. Several Saudi Islamic scholars and officials including Dr. Saleh bin-Humaid, the Imam of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, voiced support for the Grand Mufti's words. While not a member of the Saudi government, the Grand Mufti is the most senior religious scholar in Saudi Arabia and his moral authority plays an influential role in shaping public opinion in the Kingdom.

On a more basic level, the Ministry of Islamic Affairs launched an extensive media campaign to educate young Saudis on the "correct" teachings of Islam in order to prevent them from becoming drawn to extremist doctrines. The campaign included messages incorporated into Friday sermons at mosques, distribution of literature and tapes, and publication of articles on the Internet. As a part of the campaign, the government published a book in October entitled, "Guarding Against Terrorism." The government also recently began to issue identification cards to imams and religious leaders to curb instances of unauthorized persons delivering Friday sermons.

The Kingdom took several steps toward prosecuting its growing prison population of terror suspects. Senior Saudi officials, including the Minister of Interior, Minister of Justice, and Supreme Judicial Council Chairman all publicly supported aggressive legal action against terrorists but it remained unclear exactly how many detainees have faced formal charges in Saudi courts and how many were awaiting trial at year's end. During an address to the Shura Council on July 1, the Interior Minister stated that of some 9,000 suspected militants detained since 2003, 3,106 were still in detention.

The Saudi government also moved to reform its judicial system, including establishing a new state security court to try terrorism cases and expanding rehabilitation programs for terror-related prisoners. On October 1, King Abdullah issued a royal decree approving the restructuring of the judiciary to improve governance and efficiency of the Saudi court system. In addition, Saudi officials have announced the establishment of specialized state security courts to try terrorism cases. The Grand Mufti's October fatwa against supporting jihad abroad also added gravitas to pending legal actions against terror financiers and facilitators. The Grand Mufti and Supreme Judicial Council Chairman have urged the courts to follow a strict interpretation of Islamic law, including sentencing unrepentant terrorists to death. However, they continued to offer incentives for good behavior and said that terrorists who surrender themselves to the authorities and repent will be given special consideration in accordance with Islamic law.

Saudi officials acknowledged that the long-term solution must include an effective rehabilitation program to undermine detainees' adherence to extremist ideology. Accordingly, the government continued its extensive prisoner rehabilitation program aimed at addressing the social context within which individuals are recruited by terrorist groups. Officials involved with the rehabilitation program told the press that since the establishment of detainee counseling programs in 2004, the Interior Ministry had held more than 5,000 sessions to counsel more than 3,200 detainees and successfully rehabilitated and released more than 1,000 prisoners. Likewise, Saudi prisoners repatriated to Saudi Arabia from Guantanamo Bay underwent a similar rehabilitation program before reintegration into Saudi society.