Security forces have foiled 220 terrorist operations which were about to be carried out by Al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups since 2003, a Ministry of Interior spokesman said Wednesday. A large number of Al-Qaeda members therefore fled to nearby countries such as Yemen. “The success against terrorism is largely due to the issuing of list of six wanted by the Ministry of Interior. The first was issued in 2003 with 19 wanted persons on the list. Seventeen were killed and two turned themselves in,” the spokesman said. A second list was issued later in the year and had 26 wanted terrorists. Seventeen of these were killed, one turned himself in and all but two are eluding arrest. In May 2005, a third list was issued with 36 wanted persons. Fifteen of these were in the Kingdom and 21 abroad. Fourteen were killed, two arrested, two surrendered, while 18 are still at large, the spokesman said. A fourth list in 2009 had 85 wanted terrorists outside the Kingdom. Six of these were killed, one arrested, seven surrendered while 71 are still wanted. A fifth list was posted by the Ministry in 2011. This listed 47 fugitives outside the Kingdom, five surrendered, one killed, while 41 are still wanted. A 2012 list comprised 23 persons wanted for the Al-Awamiya City riots. Three turned themselves in, two were arrested, while 18 are still wanted. “The total number of wanted persons in the ministry's lists is 232. Fifty five have been killed, 20 surrendered, seven were arrested, while 150 are still wanted. Most of them are abroad,” the spokesman said. Qatif rioters targeted security men and damaged security vehicles and used tactics similar to those of Al-Qaeda. Al-Qaeda also targeted security men and tried very hard to assassinate them by any means necessary, either through shooting or plotting against them. “The nine citizens who were arrested in a raid adopted tactics similar to Al-Qaeda and they used different arms – political, media, and religious arms,” he said. The rioters also posted videos and articles online refusing to turn themselves in to security forces. This tactic is also reminiscent of Al-Qaeda who have a media arm that posts online announcements, the spokesman said. __
