Seven Mauritanians of the 520 people suspected of having links to Al-Qaeda terrorist network came to the Kingdom on work visa as drivers, but they worked as imams and muezzins at mosques in Riyadh and the Eastern Province, officials said Tuesday. For years, they covered the malicious intentions of their terrorist “Oil Cell” by penetrating through the fabric of the Saudi society using their fluent Arabic and religious rhetoric that appealed to the religious nature of Saudis. The chief of the cell was reportedly found with a message from Al-Qaeda's second-in-command, Ayman Al-Zawahiri, urging him to raise money and saying the terrorist group would provide militants from Iraq, Afghanistan and Mauritania “to target oil installations and fight security forces.” The cell was said to have collected a sizable amount of donation sent outside the Kingdom to finance terrorist activities. The terrorist cell was planning to attack an oil facility and an intelligence building in Al-Khafji, a border city with Kuwait. The cell's chief was arrested in the Eastern Province and the others in Riyadh. – Okaz __
