Saudi Gazette report



WASHINGTON — Saudi Arabia’s embassy in the United States has denied on Tuesday the US claim that a ‘potential terrorist’ arrested by the border security authorities in Arizona last Thursday is a Saudi citizen.

“Based on the engagement with the relevant U.S authorities on this matter, the embassy confirms that the individual mentioned here is not a Saudi citizen. We will continue to coordinate with the US government and bring forward any facts on this matter,” the embassy said in a statement posted on its Twitter account.

The embassy’s clarification came after the US authorities falsely claimed that the suspect arrested in Arizona was a 21-year-old Saudi national. The false claim on the suspect’s identity was made by Chris Clem, chief patrol agent of the Yuma border crossing, who published camouflaged pictures of the suspect wearing a Central Oneida County Volunteer Ambulance Corps jacket, emblazoned with an American flag patch and another that stated “Central Oneida County Volunteer.”

Chris Clem had said the suspect entered the US from Mexico on Thursday night and that the 21-year-old migrant from Saudi Arabia is linked to several Yemeni subjects of interests, who are being pursued by the US authorities.