208 held in Saudi terrorist sweeps

Saudi Arabia announced Wednesday that it had arrested 208 suspected terrorists in six cells and thwarted several planned attacks, the kingdom’s largest such sweep to date.

The Interior Ministry said the capture of eight suspects linked to Al Qaeda “preempted an imminent attack on an oil installation” in the east, which is home to most Saudi petroleum reserves. A statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency said the eight were led by a non-Saudi man, who was among those held.

Eighteen other suspects led by a foreign missile expert were arrested for “planning to smuggle eight missiles into the kingdom,” the statement said.

The kingdom, birthplace of Osama bin Laden, has been cracking down on militants since a wave of attacks in 2003.

The largest previous sweep was announced in April. It netted 172 militants, including pilots allegedly trained for oil refinery attacks using civilian planes. The monarchy holds a quarter of the world’s proven oil reserves.

The Interior Ministry said the others held were:

* 112 Saudis suspected of links and “coordination with outside circles” to assist in smuggling them to “troubled areas” -- Saudi shorthand for Iraq and Afghanistan -- for training, after which the men would have come back for attacks inside the kingdom.

* 32 Saudis and non-Saudis who allegedly provided financial aid to Al Qaeda operations here.

* 22 people who allegedly supported Al Qaeda and plotted to assassinate religious leaders and security officials.

* 16 men in the holy city of Medina who allegedly were colluding to issue a publication propagating “misleading ideology” and criminal acts. The group also allegedly worked on helping volunteers go fight in Afghanistan and Iraq.