Daesh, Houthis have same agenda: Ulema

Saudi Gazette report RIYADH — Terrorism targeting the Kingdom has different names but one agenda, said the General Secretariat of the Council of Senior Scholars in a statement issued on Monday. Whether it is Daesh (the so-called IS) or Houthis or any other extremist and terrorist groups, the objective is to target the Kingdom, which they think is their real enemy because of its moderation and being the heart of the Islamic Arab World. “What happened in the last few days is a proof of this. The targeting of Makkah by Houthi terrorists last Thursday and the announcement on Sunday by the Interior Ministry of the thwarting of terror plots prove that despite difference in names and sectarian affiliations, the objective of these terror groups is the same: To target the Kingdom,” said the statement. Meanwhile, Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki, spokesman of the Ministry of Interior, highlighted the role of Saudi society in creating awareness about the dangers of fanatic religious thoughts. He appreciated the efforts of society in preventing terror organizations’ machinations to lure and recruit the youth for terrorist and subversive operations inside the Kingdom. He sought the help of everyone in arresting nine terror suspects at large who are wanted for involvement in a number of terror activities, some of them against security men and a security facilities in the Eastern Region. Al-Turki said that terrorist organizations prefer to recruit the youth for suicide operations because they think that these youths may divulge secrets if they are arrested. Disclosing information about a terror cell which was busted before attacking security targets in Riyadh, Tabuk and the Eastern Region, Maj. Gen. Bassam Al-Atiyah, a senior officer at the Interior Ministry, said that the cell was established by four university students in Shaqra. They were in contact with a Syria-based Daesh leader in 2014 before agreeing to carry out the operations inside the Kingdom. On the second thwarted terror operation, Al-Atiyah disclosed that the booby trapped car was to be filled with 400 kg of explosives and detonated during Saudi-UAE World Cup qualifier match watched by 60,000 soccer fans at Al-Jawara stadium in Jeddah on Oct. 11.