Counterterrorism Research Library Saudi Arabia
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Interviews with Karim al-Mejjati and Abqaiq Attacker
Last Updated (Monday, 29 November 1999 19:00) Written by Evan Kohlmann Wednesday, 28 March 2007 19:00
Al-Qaida's Committee in the Arabian Peninsula (Saudi Arabia) has recently released the first new issue of its official magazine, Sawt al-Jihad ("Voice of Jihad"), in nearly two years. Among other articles, the magazine contains lengthy interviews with Badr al-Humaydi (one of the Al-Qaida operatives who participated in last year's terrorist attack on the Abqaiq oil refinery in eastern Saudi Arabia) and Karim al-Mejjati (a.k.a. Abu Elyas al-Maghrebi), a most wanted Moroccan Al-Qaida commander who was killed in a clash with Saudi security forces in April 2005. During the interview conducted shortly prior to his death, al-Mejjati discusses at great length his experiences fighting with mujahideen in Bosnia-Herzegovina, and salutes various military commanders from Afghanistan who he credits as being his chief instructors--including Ibn Shaykh al-Liby, Abu Zubaydah al-Falastini, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and the current leader of Al-Qaida's ground forces in southern Afghanistan Abu Laith al-Liby.
- Click to view Sawt al-Jihad #30 - "Interview with Badr al-Humaydi"
- Click to view Sawt al-Jihad #30 - "Interview with Karim al-Mejjati"
Al-Qaida in Saudi Arabia: "Bin Laden and the Oil Weapon"
Last Updated (Monday, 29 November 1999 19:00) Written by Evan Kohlmann Saturday, 24 February 2007 19:00
Al-Qaida's Committee in the Arabian Peninsula (Saudi Arabia) has recently released the first new issue of its official magazine, Sawt al-Jihad ("Voice of Jihad"), in nearly two years. Among other subjects, Sawt al-Jihad #30 addresses the aftermath of the Abqaiq (Buqayq) oil refinery attack in early 2006 in an article titled "Bin Laden and the Oil Weapon." The author of the piece mocked the response in Western countries to the Abqaiq attack, insisting, "targeting the region’s oil is not an unusual or new thing... Nevertheless, the enormity of the target and the severity of the shock caused many observers to forget past events and led them to claim that Bin Laden had just begun to target oil [interests], and that this was a strategic shift in Al-Qaida policy!!" The article described oil interests as "an easy target for all the enemies of the United States" and urged terrorist strikes on "petroleum interests in all regions that the United States benefits from, and not only in the Middle East", including targeting "oil production wells, export pipelines, loading platforms, tankers--and anything else that will deprive the United States of oil... disrupt and stifle its economy, and threaten its economic and political future."
Recent Statements from Al-Qaida in Saudi Arabia
Last Updated (Monday, 29 November 1999 19:00) Written by Evan Kohlmann Wednesday, 09 August 2006 19:00
Over the last two months, Al-Qaida and Al-Qaida-linked terrorist cells inside the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have issued numerous statements proclaiming their continued presence and hailing "martyrs" killed in clashes with Saudi security forces earlier this summer. The communiques indicate that cells loyal to Usama Bin Laden--among them veterans of the jihad in Iraq--have regrouped under the flag of Al-Qaida in Saudi Arabia.
- First Communiqué from the Bashaer Organization
- Second Communiqué from the Bashaer Organization
- Al-Qaida statement on recent events in Saudi Arabia
- Al-Qaida statement on merging of Bashaer Organization
Al-Qaida in Saudi Arabia Denies Being Infiltrated
Last Updated (Monday, 29 November 1999 19:00) Written by Evan Kohlmann Thursday, 06 April 2006 19:00
Al-Qaida's Committee in the Arabian Peninsula has issued a new communiqué dismissing the recent arrests of alleged Al-Qaida operatives by Saudi security forces and denying rumors posted on Mohammed al-Massari's Internet website that the popular Al-Hesbah discussion forum was used by intelligence agencies to infiltrate Al-Qaida in Saudi Arabia. According to the statement, "[t]he purpose of the recent allegations is only to make the supporters of the mujahideen fearful of using the Internet... we can only say good things about our brothers from the Al-Hesbah network. Even if we suppose that they really did—per se—infiltrate into our network as it is alleged, we have already taken all the necessary precautions with respect to such a scenario."
New Martyrdom Video from Saudi Al-Qaida Leader
Last Updated (Monday, 29 November 1999 19:00) Written by Evan Kohlmann Saturday, 18 March 2006 19:00
On March 15, Al-Qaida’s Committee in the Arabian Peninsula released the first edition of a new video series titled “Blood that will never be forgotten” commemorating its “martyred” operatives in Saudi Arabia. This first edition, subtitled “The Battle of Al-Yarmuk District in Eastern Riyadh” featured the recorded will of Al-Qaida commander Fahd bin Farraj al-Juwair al-Farraj, who headed the organization at the time of his death. Al-Farraj—one of the original participants at the notorious Al-Battar training camp inside Saudi Arabia during 2002-2003—was also named by Al-Qaida as the mastermind behind the failed February 2006 suicide bomb attack on a major oil refinery in the eastern Saudi town of Abqaiq. On February 27, only days after the clash at Abqaiq, al-Farraj was killed in a shootout with Saudi police in an affluent section of the capital Riyadh.
- English transcript of martyrdom video from Fahd al-Farraj
Video of al-Farraj at the Al-Battar training camp in Saudi
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