It’s difficult to drive a wedge between Saudis

ABDEL AZIZ ALUWAISHEG

Published — Thursday 13 November 2014

The horrific terrorist attack that took place on Nov. 3 in the small eastern town of Al-Dalwah was the first known act of communal violence committed in Saudi Arabia since its founding in 1932. There were of course other terrorist attacks in the past, but they usually targeted government symbols, oil installations or foreign residents.
From all indications, the Nov. 3 attack appears to be the work of a group of extremists with connections to international terrorist organizations, most likely Al-Qaeda. It also appeared calculated to inflict the most damage to Sunni-Shiite relations in Saudi Arabia. The attackers killed eight people who were taking part in a religious gathering. Twelve others were injured. Most of the victims were children.
The timing of the attack during Ashoorah was perhaps chosen to maximize the effect, in this small town of 2,000 inhabitants, 15 kilometers away from Al-Hofuf, and stir sectarian animosities elsewhere.
The Shiites and Sunnis of Saudi Arabia disappointed the perpetrators and they showed the depth of bonds between them. The fact that security forces were able to apprehend suspects very quickly helped unify the country against the terrorists. The outpouring of sympathy for the victims and their families from all over the country, and from neighboring GCC countries, foiled any attempts to use the attack to drive a wedge between the two communities.
Immediately following the attack, security forces drew a dragnet throughout the country to catch perpetrators of this massacre and their co-conspirators. Within a few hours, the ministry of interior announced the capture of suspects “related” to the case. Within a few days, over 30 suspects were in custody, nabbed in different parts of the country. Suspects were rounded up in the East (Al-Ahsa, Alkhobar, and Dammam), Center (Riyadh and Shaqra), and North (Buraidah, Al-Badai’, Ar’ar, and Al-Jawf). In the process of apprehending suspects in Buraidah, two members of the security force and three suspects were killed in the shootout. The leader of the attack on Al-Dalwah is believed to be among those captured alive and there are reports that he had recently returned from fighting abroad.
The investigation is still in its early stages, but there are indications that the attack in Al-Dalwah, grotesque and huge as it was, was part of a bigger conspiracy, implementation of which has been disrupted by the security dragnet. The conspiracy included attacks on the Shiite community, sabotage of oil installations, as well as assassinations.
All suspects who have been captured in connection with the Al-Dalwah attack so far are Saudis, pointing again to the dangers of homegrown terrorism. Earlier this year, security forces disrupted several similar cells and arrested extremists who were recruiting Saudis to fight abroad or training them to carry out attacks within Saudi Arabia.
In late August 2014, Saudi Arabia announced the dismantling of a pro-ISIS cell in Tumair, just 160 kilometers north of Riyadh. Nine people belonging to the cell were apprehended. They were recruiting and encouraging young men to travel abroad and join the terrorists’ ranks. They managed to recruit 34 men, mostly aged 20-25 years, who traveled to Syria and Iraq
Earlier in the year, in May, 62 individuals were captured in other parts of the country, suspected of belonging to the ISIS and Al-Qaeda. A new list of 44 fugitives belonging to the two organizations was also announced in May.
Last September, a court in Riyadh sentenced 27 defendants for up to 10 years on charges including joining extremist groups, fighting abroad, recruiting for them, supporting those groups financially and using religious study groups to drum up support for them. In the same month, the same court sentenced three terrorists to death and 17 more to lengthy prison terms for terrorism-related charges including organizing armed cells reporting to Al-Qaeda and other extremist groups, and conspiring to assassinate political leaders and kill security forces and foreign residents.
In a column in Arab News (Time to widen scope of anti-IS operation, Sept. 24), I warned that all those cases, troubling as they were, might be just the tip of the iceberg, a fear that many Saudis shared at the time. The bloody Al-Dalwah attack last week has confirmed that fear. It showed the extent to which extremists were ready to go to spread their venomous beliefs.
ISIS, Al-Qaeda and similar groups share a murderous ideology that considers all those who disagreed with them, including fellow Muslims, to be beyond the pale and as such can be killed without hesitation. We have witnessed that in areas where these groups operate, in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan, Pakistan and elsewhere.
About a decade ago, Al-Qaeda was active in Saudi Arabia as well, but was forced to move its operations abroad as the relentless crackdown by security forces made operations within Saudi Arabia more difficult. Although extremists appeared to have been considerably weakened over the past decade, they nevertheless maintained networks within the Kingdom that sent money, foot soldiers, leaders and religious enablers abroad, as I pointed out in previous columns. Last week, they struck here in the most gruesome and cynical manner.
While Saudi Arabia works within the international coalition to defeat ISIS and defeat Al-Qaeda as well, it is important to address the wider problem of sympathy for terrorist organizations within Saudi Arabia. After last week’s massacre,
it is no longer about degrading and defeating
them abroad, but to disrupt their activities here as well.
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