The Hindu : Al-Qaeda plot to crash plane into Jeddah building foiled

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, May 22, 2003

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Al-Qaeda plot to crash plane into Jeddah building foiled

Dubai May 21. Saudi Arabian authorities have foiled an attempt by the Al-Qaeda to hijack a passenger plane and crash it into a building in Jeddah, by arresting three suspects, even as the U.S., Germany, Canada and Britain closed their embassies in the kingdom for the public from today fearing fresh terror strikes.

The three were arrested on Monday at the Jeddah airport before they boarded a Saudia flight, the kingdom's national carrier, to Sudan, CNN quoting Saudi security sources reported today.

The men had knives and last testaments, or wills, on them when they were arrested, they said.

The sources said the men were members of the Al-Qaeda cell that carried out last week's suicide bombings at three residential compounds in Riyadh that left 34 persons, including eight Americans dead.

However, they said the arrested trio were not believed to be perpetrators of the suicide attacks. One of them was on the Saudi most-wanted list. — PTI

`Imitate Sept. 11 attacks'

AP reports from Cairo

Qatar television Al-Jazeera today aired excerpts of what it said was an audiotape on which Ayman al-Zawahri, top lieutenant of the Al-Qaeda chief, Osama bin Laden, called on Muslims to imitate the September 11, 2001, attacks.

``Consider your 19 brothers who attacked Washington and New York with their planes as an example,'' a strong voice could be heard saying as the station showed a file photo of a white-turbaned al-Zawahri.

The voice was similar to al-Zawahri's, judging from previous audiotapes and videotapes attributed to the Egyptian militant.

Al-Jazeera did not immediately say when or how it had obtained the tape.

The speaker lashed out at Arab leaders for offering ``airports and the facilities'' to the allied troops, an apparent reference to the U.S.-led war on Iraq.

``Here is Saudi Arabia, where planes are launched from their airports, from its lands. Here is Kuwait, where the heavy armies march from its lands. Here is Qatar, where the command of the campaign is based there. Here is Bahrain, the command of the (U.S. Navy) fifth fleet remains inside it.''

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