U.S. ASSESSES AL QAIDA HAS INFILTRATED SAUDI SECURITY
WASHINGTON [MENL] -- The U.S. intelligence community assesses that Al Qaida
has infiltrated Saudi military and security forces.U.S. intelligence and diplomatic sources said assessments by both the
CIA and the Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency have asserted that Al
Qaida operatives in Saudi Arabia have contacts throughout the kingdom's
armed forces. The sources said Al Qaida has operatives in the elite National
Guard, the Navy and the Army."The only area where there is no evidence of a significant Al Qaida
presence is the Saudi Royal Air Force," a U.S. official familiar with
intelligence assessments said. "The police, army, navy, National Guard and
all the rest have been infiltrated by Al Qaida."The sources said the Al Qaida suicide attacks on three Western compounds
on early Tuesday pointed to the vast amount of knowledge the organization
possessed on the layout of the residences and the security detail. They said
nine attackers obtained National Guard uniforms, drove to the gates of the
compounds, killed actual National Guard soldiers and immediately entered the
Western residency complex.
NOTE: The above is not the full item.
This service contains only a small portion of the information produced daily by Middle East Newsline. For a subscription to the full service, please contact Middle East Newsline at: editor@menewsline.com for further details.
