BERLIN/RIYADH, Sept 23: Saudi Arabia has given Interpol the names of 18 of its most wanted militant suspects and asked the world police agency to trace them, a senior Saudi security official said.
Maj-Gen Ali al-Obaishi told Reuters in Berlin the suspects, many believed to be living outside Saudi Arabia, were notified to Interpol last week.
Officials in Riyadh confirmed the move and said all the suspects have been named on lists of wanted militants published by the government.
“We provided about 18 names,” said Obaishi, an Interior Ministry official who heads the Saudi national bureau of Interpol. “We have a big suspicion most of them are outside Saudi Arabia,” he said, without naming other countries.
Interior Minister Prince Nayef was quoted by newspapers this month as complaining the kingdom has not received enough international cooperation in its crackdown on militants.
The country has been battling a two-year wave of attacks by supporters of Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda network which has mainly targeted Westerners and Saudi security forces.
Officials say they have broken up militant cells and supply lines inside Saudi Arabia but that more attacks are possible, particularly if Saudis fighting in the Iraqi insurgency bring their battle back home.
A Saudi security source said Saudi Arabia has been looking for greater help from Syria, Yemen, Iran and Iraq in tracing or arresting the suspects. It has also sought assistance from Mauritania, where one man is believed to have fled.
But he said it has had little response to a list of wanted men which was published in June, partly to alert neighbouring countries that they had slipped out of the kingdom.
“In most cases it’s not a question of cover-up,” said Saudi security adviser Nawaf Obaid. “The other countries lack the resources and equipment to deal with the militants,” he said, comparing their limited resources with Saudi Arabia’s security budget this year of between $ nine billion and $10 billion.
FRUSTRATION: Obaishi, speaking to Reuters at Interpol’s annual conference in Berlin this week, echoed Nayef’s frustration over the perceived lack of help, saying some countries were not implementing Interpol “red notices” filed by Saudi Arabia.
Red notices are worldwide requests to arrest suspects with a view to extradition.
“We ask Interpol to work harder to encourage other countries ... Some countries don’t take good care of red notices,” Obaishi said. “If we want someone and we know he’s in country A, and that country does nothing, it’s very frustrating for us.”
Interpol Secretary General Ronald Noble acknowledged that lack of cooperation in implementing red notices was an issue, but said it was a sovereign decision for each member country whether to make arrests on the basis of the notices.
Most men named in the June list of suspects were Saudis. But they also included three Chadians, a Kuwaiti, a Yemeni, a Mauritanian and a Moroccan.
Of the 21 suspected militants believed to be outside the country, one handed himself over in Lebanon and another was discovered in custody in Yemen and a third died in a gunfight.
Saudi newspapers say several others have been reported killed or detained in Iraq.
Obaishi said the current leadership structure of Al Qaeda in Saudi Arabia was unclear, following the death of prominent militant Saleh al-Awfi.—Reuters
