Saudi minister: Al-Qaeda changing style, we are expecting the worst

Jun 18, 2008, 8:22 GMT

Riyadh - Saudi Arabia is expecting the worst from the al- Qaeda terror network because the group is changing its style and techniques but the kingdom is uncovering more details about its sources of funding, the Saudi Minister of Interior said in remarks published Wednesday.

Saudi Arabia's war on terrorism is going ahead steadily but not without difficulty, which is caused by the fact that al-Qaeda is changing its techniques, Prince Nayyif bin Abdel-Aziz told the pan- Arab daily Alsahrq al-Awsat.

This is why the Saudi security bodies are expecting the worst from al-Qaeda, the minister added.

'Investigation into sources that may be funding the network in the kingdom is making progress. But the information we have gathered has to be completed,' the minister said.

The kingdom has been engulfed in recent years in a campaign of violence carried out by al-Qaeda, targeting foreigners working in the country's oil industry and security forces.

The leader of al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, is a Saudi national, who was incensed by the US military presence in the kingdom and his fight against the Saudi royal family initially focused on ousting Americans from the country.

Saudi Arabia came under increasing international pressure to crack down on religious intolerance in the country after the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. Out of the 19 hijackers involved in the attacks, 15 were from Saudi Arabia.

'Some people belonging to al-Qaeda may be in Iran,' the minister said. But he ruled out the presence of Saudi detainees in Iran.