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Email alqaeda warned saudi attack { May 13 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A49906-2003May13.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A49906-2003May13.html
Al-Qaida Operative Warned of Attacks
By SARAH EL DEEB
The Associated Press
Tuesday, May 13, 2003; 1:46 PM
DOHA, Qatar - An al-Qaida commander warned that the terror network was about to carry out major attacks in Saudi Arabia in an e-mail just a day before the deadly assault in the Saudi capital, an Arab magazine reported.
The al-Qaida operative, who identified himself as Abu Mohammed al-Ablaj, wrote in an e-mail Sunday to the London-based Al-Majalla magazine that al-Qaida has stored arms and explosives and set up "martyrdom" squads in Saudi Arabia to launch what he described as a "guerrilla war" on its leaders and the United States.
A U.S. counterterrorism official in Washington said the e-mail is regarded as credible and implies al-Qaida responsibility for Monday night's attacks.
Al-Ablaj is believed to be a known al-Qaida operative named Abu Bakr, the official said. In correspondence with the Saudi-owned Al-Majalla, al-Ablaj has said he leads the training of al-Qaida fighters.
"Beside targeting the heart of America, among the strategic priorities now is to target and execute operations in the Gulf countries and allies of the United States, particularly Egypt and Jordan," Al-Ablaj wrote in the e-mail.
"The list of assassinations, the raid teams and the martyr operation squads are ready. The caches of weapons, ammunition, explosives and bombs are plentiful, and the authorities cannot uncover them," al-Ablaj wrote, according to the magazine. "We will start by creating tensions to confuse the security services, then carry out major operations and lethal strikes."
On Monday, attackers shot their way into three housing compounds in synchronized strikes in the Saudi capital and then set off multiple suicide car bombs, killing 20 people, including seven Americans. Saudi officials said nine attackers also died.
Al-Ablaj first contacted the magazine three months ago by e-mail. Issam Abdullah, Al-Majalla's senior political correspondent, said the magazine could not confirm al-Ablaj's identity and did not know his whereabouts.
Al-Majalla reporter Mahmoud Khalil told The Associated Press he exchanged e-mails with al-Ablaj on Saturday and Sunday, sending him questions. Al-Majalla planned to publish the full interview in its next edition, on Friday.
Abdullah and Khalil said the magazine sent e-mails asking specifically if al-Qaida was responsible for Monday night's attacks in the Saudi capital but had not yet received a response. Al-Majalla is owned by a Saudi media group thought to be close to the kingdom's royal family.
"Osama bin Laden has issued strong directives to launch a guerrilla war in all forms, on a long term, in the nations of the Gulf ... We are ready to carry out many, very large operations," al-Ablaj wrote in Sunday's message.
"Al-Qaida shall carry the battle with all the guerrilla war experience it gained in Afghanistan and Chechnya to the Gulf and the Arabian Peninsula."
In his first e-mail, on April 7, al-Ablaj wrote that al-Qaida was setting up ammunition warehouses in the Persian Gulf and preparing for an attack. "The world will see how we make America pay the price for invading Iraq," he wrote.
Khalil, who received the e-mail, said Al-Majalla at first decided against publishing the claims, which appeared impossible to confirm. But a month later, when the Saudi government announced the seizure of arms in Riyadh, Khalil contacted Al-Ablaj to rework the story.
The Saudi government was seeking 19 suspects in connection with the weapons seizure. The government said the group was believed to be receiving orders directly from bin Laden and had been planning to use the seized weapons to attack the Saudi royal family as well as American and British interests.
In e-mails Saturday and Sunday, al-Ablaj said the group's plans were not affected by the seizure of the weapons, Khalil said. Al-Ablaj said only three of the 19 sought by Saudi authorities belong to al-Qaida.
On May 7, Khalil provided AP with an interview with a man identified as the new spokesman for al-Qaida, Thabet bin Qais, who said the group had reorganized and was planning attacks against the United States on the scale of Sept. 11.
Bin Qais was quoted as saying the arrests of key al-Qaida figures, including suspected Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, would have little effect on the organization because of newcomers "who have a very good security cover."
© 2003 The Associated Press
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