Al Qaeda Links Seen in Attacks on Top Saudi Security Officials

Islamic militants in Saudi Arabia with links to Al Qaeda appear to be making a concerted new effort to destabilize the Saudi government by assassinating top security officials, according to senior American officials. A series of assassination attempts in the last month, including a failed car bombing in the Saudi capital on Monday, have also included a previously undisclosed shooting in early December of Maj. Gen. Abdelaziz al-Huweirini. As the No. 3 official in Saudi Arabia’s Interior Ministry, he is the kingdom’s top counterterrorism official. General Huweirini, who has worked closely with American officials, was moderately wounded in that Dec. 4 attack, the American officials said. No one has been killed in the attacks, which continued despite major setbacks for Al Qaeda in a battle with Saudi security forces. One Saudi king, Faisal, was assassinated in 1975 by a militant who was also a relative, but assassination attempts against Saudi officials have otherwise been almost unknown. Until this year, most major attacks by suspected Qaeda militants in Saudi Arabia have been directed against American or other Western targets. Full Story