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The new face of terror
unveiled
By Syed Saleem Shahzad
KARACHI - The first and deadly strike of the
International Islamic Front of Osama bin Laden since its
restructuring will be a setback for the Saudi monarchy
and could force them to back off from any US-sponsored
peace formula for the Middle East.
At the same
time, more attacks can be expected, particularly in
Egypt, as with Saudi Arabia, in an attempt to drive a
wedge between that country and the US over the US peace
initiative in the Middle East.
The three
simultaneous bombings in housing compounds for
foreigners in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Monday night
left at least 29 people dead - seven of them Americans -
according to the Saudi Interior Ministry, as well as the
nine suicide car bombers.
Last week the Saudi
police seized a huge stash of explosives, weapons and
cash following a shootout with suspected terrorists in
the capital. The Interior Ministry said the police were
hunting "19 terrorists, 17 of them Saudis" who "intended
to carry out acts of terrorism". Al-Majallah, a sister
publication of the Arab News, citing an email message
from a newly-appointed al-Qaeda spokesman, Thabet ibn
Qais, said last week that "an attack against America was
inevitable". Al-Qaeda has "carried out changes in its
leadership and sidelined the September 11, 2001 team",
the magazine quoted Thabet as saying. "Future missions
have been entrusted to the new team, which is well
protected against the US intelligence services," the
magazine quoted Thabet as saying. "The old leadership
does not know the names of any of its members."
Asia Times Online clearly outlined earlier this
month (Afghanistan: Launchpad for
terror
) that bin Laden's International
Islamic Front, a grouping of al-Qaeda and several other
terrorist networks, has restructured and that the driver
of this new international brigade is the Egyptian Jamaat
al-Jehad, led by Dr Aiman al-Zawahiri, bin Laden's right
hand man. (This group merged with al-Qaeda, but it has
an independent following in Egypt). The article pointed
out that Jamaat's leaders have redirected the energies
of militants to concentrate purely on US targets, saying
that it is the real enemy. It also pointed out that the
network would operate with a new team and new name and
would strike on US interests sooner rather than later.
Monday's attacks will place the ruling monarchy
in Saudi Arabia under intense pressure, and the
political structure of the kingdom is such that it will
have to take action on any new demands that extremists
might make. In 1980, a group of Islamic hardlines
rebelled against the Saudi monarchy. The rebellion was
crashed and the dissidents executed. But subsequently
the monarchy met their demands and implemented more
strict Islamic rules in the country.
Saudi
Arabia has in the past been the victim of terror attacks
to force the leadership to sever its ties with the US .
In November 1995, five Americans and two Indians were
killed and 60 people injured in an explosion in a car
park near a US-run military training center in Riyadh.
In June 1996, a bomb in a fuel truck killed 19 American
soldiers and wounded nearly 400 people at a US military
housing complex in Alkhobar.
A US troop
withdrawal from Saudi Arabia has been one of the main
demands of al-Qaeda and bin Laden. The US said on April
29 that it was ending military operations in the kingdom
and removing virtually all of its forces (currently
about 10,000)by next month. Once they are gone, the
hardliners can be expected to step up their demands,
possibly for stronger anti-West policies, or even
complete chaos in society.
Saudi Arabia has
claimed recently that it had successfully broken severel
al-Qaeda cells in the country and arrested over 300
people, the reality appears to be different.
Although specific social and political factors
make Saudi Arabia vulnerable to hardliners, at present,
the entire Arab world is passing through a difficlt
stage, and even secular and relatively liberal Egypt is
no exception, where the Muslim Brotherhood is enjoying a
new lease of life following the fall of Baghdad.
For the first time in many decades, hundreds of
thousands of people have welcomed or attended the
Brotherhood's country-wide demonstrations denouncing
those Arab states with pro-US policies. Egypt is
considered the closest US ally in the Middle East (aside
from Israel)and the second largest recipient of US aid
after Israel.
Terror attacks on its soil could
force the government to seriously reconsider this
position.
Copyright 2003 Asia Times Online Co,
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