Saudi Militants Trained in Al Qaeda Camps – Minister

Six Muslim militants killed on Monday in the latest Saudi security sweep were trained in al Qaeda camps, Saudi Arabia’s interior minister said in comments published on Tuesday. “Most of them received their military training in al Qaeda camps in Afghanistan and a small number perhaps were trained on farms and the like inside the country,” Prince Nayef was quoted as saying in the London-based Saudi-owned daily Asharq al-Awsat. “Most of the evidence points to them being connected to the terrorists who were arrested in Mecca,” he said, referring to clashes in the Muslim holy city of Mecca last month. The six were killed in a shoot-out at a farm in Qassim province, an Islamist heartland in the northeast of the vast desert country. Two policemen were killed and eight wounded in the clash. It was the biggest militant death toll in a series of clashes since suicide bombs in Riyadh killed 35 people on May 12, including nine Americans. Saudi Arabia and the United States blamed the attacks on Saudi-born Osama bin Laden’s al Qaeda. Since the September 11 attacks, Saudi Arabia has taken steps to control groups which may have been channeling money to militants. Police have arrested some 240 suspects in a hunt for al Qaeda militants since early May. Prince Nayef said some of the detainees were al Qaeda members. Full Story