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Al Qaeda Planned to Attack Saudi Arabia during Saudi – Huthi Conflict – Report | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Riyadh, Asharq Al-Awsat- Documents obtained by Asharq Al-Awsat reveal that Saudi Arabian national, Ahmed Abdel Aziz al-Jasser – who Yemen yesterday offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to his arrest – was planning to carry out a terrorist operation on Saudi soil during the conflict that took place between the Saudi military and the Huthi insurgents in late 2009. These documents also reveal that al-Jasser was working with 4 other Saudi nationals whose names are included on the Saudi Arabian list of 85 suspected militants wanted around the world.

According to information obtained by Asharq Al-Awsat from a special source, these 5 men were planning to carry out a terrorist attack against Saudi Arabia in December 2009, possibly carrying out an assassination or attacking the country’s oil facilities.

The documents name the 5 Al Qaeda members as being; Murtada Ali Saeed Mukram [76 on the Saudi list], Naif Mohammed Saeed Al-Kodari Al-Qahtani [81], Abdullah Farraj Mohammed Hamoud Al-Juweir [46], and Waleed Ali Mishafi Al-Mishafi Assiri [83], in addition to Ahmed Abdel Aziz al-Jasser, who is not included on the Saudi list of 85.

Yemen announced the arrest of Abdullah Farraj Mohammed Hamoud Al-Juweir several months ago. It seems that the Yemeni security authorities have benefited from information provided by al-Juweir in his confession, which has led to the issuance of an arrest warrant against al-Jasser for his part in the terror plot to target Saudi Arabia.

Naif Mohammed Saeed Al-Kodari Al-Qahtani has been described as a liaison to the Al Qaeda leadership. He was previously a member of a terrorist cell whose objectives included assassinations and the targeting of oil facilities in Saudi Arabia. Al-Qahtani is known to have received self-defence training, and has also been described as an Al Qaeda media representative.

Information on al-Qahtani also reveals that he infiltrated Yemen and has received training in light and heavy arms and has ties to Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula members Ammar al-Waili, and Hamza al-Qaiti. Al-Qaiti, who was reportedly Al Qaeda’s number two in Yemen, was killed in August 2008 by Yemeni security forces during a counter-terrorism raid in Tarim.

Al-Qahtani is wanted of financing a terrorist operation that targeted Spanish tourists in July 2007 in the central province of Marib, killing eight, as well as other terrorist operations targeting oil facilities and foreign interests in Yemen.

Waleed Ali Mishafi Al-Mishafi Assiri is wanted for adding and abetting members of Al Qaeda in Saudi Arabia, and belonging to an Al Qaeda cell whose objectives included assassinations and the targeting of Saudi Arabia’s oil facilities. He has been described as this terrorist cell’s religious leader. Assiri has also reportedly been trained in self-defence, and light and heavy arms, and his known associates also include Ammar al-Waili and Hamza al-Qaiti.

The available information about Abdullah Farraj Mohammed Hamoud Al-Juweir, the fourth member of this terrorist plot to target Saudi Arabia, reveals that he joined Al Qaeda in Iraq and took part in operations there. He reportedly has connected to Al Qaeda members in Yemen and abroad, and he is wanted for planning to carry out terrorist attacks against Saudi Arabia. Al-Juweir travelled to Yemen from Iraq utilizing a false passport in order to plan and prepare for a terrorist operation in Saudi Arabia.

As for the final member of this plot, Murtada Ali Saeed Mukram, he is reported a former Guantanamo Bay detainee who joined Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula following his release. Mukram is wanted by Riyadh for violating the terms of his parole and joining a terrorist organization, namely Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula which is under the leadership of Nasser al-Wahaishy.