Riyadh, Asharq Al-Awsat-The family of Ahmed Al-Shaye, who was detained for his attempt to blow up a fuel tanker in Iraq last December, has been allowed to visit him in hospital. He was handed to the Interior Ministry by Iraqi authorities earlier last week.
Ahmed Abdullah Abdul Rahman Al-Shaye was born in 1984 in Buraydah, north of Riyadh and raised in the central district of Al-Iskan. He had attempted to detonate a fuel tanker on Christmas night in the area of Al-Mansour, the center of the Iraqi capital. The truck exploded before he had arrived at the intended location, believed to be the Jordanian embassy. The explosion resulted in the death of 12 civilians, seven of which were from the same family. Al-Shaye himself escaped death as the force of the explosion threw him away from the truck but he has suffered from severe burns all over his body.
The Interior Ministry spokesman, Brigadier General Mansour Al-Turki told Asharq Al-Awsat that Al-Shaye remains in a stable condition in a Riyadh hospital for medical treatment. The spokesman added, "In Saudi Arabia, we are adamant that those who are detained in prison are visited by their families, so why should the case be any different for those who are hospitalized?"
Al-Shaye”s family met him on his arrival and accompanied him on his journey to hospital in what was a humane act by the interior minister, Prince Naif Bin Abdulaziz who insists that the families of those arrested abroad are received by their families.
Like many other foreign fighters in Iraq, al-Shaye entered the country via the Syrian borders. Foreign fighters receive training in Iraq before serving as suicide bombers or participating in other forms of insurgency.