Saudi Military Trained New Al-Qaeda Leader

There’s a new leader of Al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia and it looks like he has ties with that country’s security forces. This is an interesting development considering the earlier reports that the kidnappers who killed Paul Johnson claim that they were aided by sympathizers in the Saudi security forces.

CNN reports:

While set back by the death of previous leader Abdulaziz al-Muqrin, mastermind of the kidnapping and beheading of American engineer Paul M. Johnson Jr., al Qaeda remains able to strike at the Saudi government because of men such as Saleh Mohammed al-Oufi. ... According to reports in Saudi papers closely linked to the government, al-Oufi, believed to be in his late 30s, received military training in Riyadh before joining the kingdom's prison guard unit. He worked as a guard in the prison in Medina, near his hometown, before he was fired in 1992, apparently for misconduct.

A Saudi expert, speaking on condition of anonymity, said al-Oufi's military training and his reputation for devotion to al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden made him a particularly good candidate to take over from al-Muqrin. ... Evan Kohlmann, a Washington-based expert on terrorism, said al-Oufi would know the tactics and personnel of Saudi security forces. Kohlmann noted that al Qaeda claims to have infiltrated the security forces and said that while Saudi officials reject that, al-Oufi's background is evidence it is possible.

New York Newsday reports:

Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula ... said Saudi security forces provided uniforms and police cars to militants who then set up a fake checkpoint to kidnap Paul M. Johnson Jr. The militants say they posed as police to stop Johnson's car, anesthetized him and carried him to another car. "A number of the cooperators who are sincere to their religion in the security apparatus donated those clothes and the police cars. We ask God to reward them and that they use their energy to serve Islam and the mujahedeen," the article said.

It is possible that such claims are being made simply in order to discredit the Saudi government among Westerners, not that that would be too difficult. The fact that al-Oufi has military training, though, should lead people to wonder how many within various military and police forces are sympathetic to Al-Qaeda. It isn’t plausible that the number is zero. Assuming that there are at least some, how many would be willing to actually help Al-Qaeda do something, even if it is to just pass along information? These terrorists have proven themselves to be relatively smart, and the smart thing to do would have been to insert informer and sympathizers into important positions long ago. If the Saudi government doesn’t take that possibility seriously, I’m not sure they deserve to survive.

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