Saudis Arrest Militant Cleric After Surveillance Operation

Security forces in Saudi Arabia have arrested one of the kingdom's most wanted al-Qaida suspects, the official Saudi news agency said yesterday.

Faris al-Zahrani, a cleric who wrote for Voice of Jihad, a website linked to al-Qaida, was captured in the southern town of Abha on Thursday night.

He was 12th on a list of the kingdom's 26 most-wanted suspects, issued by the Saudi authorities in December, but he recently moved up as others were killed or caught.

As a result of a tip-off, police had been watching Mr Zahrani's movements since he arrived in Abha on Wednesday, the Jeddah-based Arab News said, citing a security source.

He was carrying a hand grenade at the time of his arrest, but did not use it, the newspaper said.

Mr Zahrani, 27, has a master's degree in Islamic law from the Imam Muhammad bin Saud Islamic University in Abha and is regarded as one of the militants' most prominent theorists, though the interior ministry describes him as "one of the heads of strife".

For several weeks he had used the internet to taunt the authorities over the failure of their efforts to capture him.

"I would like to reassure the people who love me," he wrote on Voice of Jihad.

"I am careful in my movements and contacts, and I take all necessary precautions."

When the authorities earlier this year announced a one-month amnesty for militants who gave themselves up, he said he had not even considered their offer.

"I never contemplated surrendering to any tyrant," he wrote in a message that was widely distributed on the internet.

By the time the amnesty expired last month only a handful of militants had surrendered. One indication of Mr Zahrani's importance was the posting of support messages on the internet yesterday after news of his arrest.

"May God strengthen Faris al-Zahrani's heart. Make him calm and support him," one contributor wrote under the pen name Ishraqet Amal [dawn of hope].

"As he championed righteousness and waged holy war for your sake, God, support him and don't let the infidels get to him [ie psychologically]."

Another contributor wrote: "I pray to God that this news is false."

Announcing the arrest yesterday, an official quoted by the Saudi news agency said: "The interior ministry wishes to emphasise to all people that the security forces are determined to pursue the terrorists, get them out of their holes and apply God's law to them."

The Saudi authorities launched a nationwide hunt for terror suspects and detained hundreds of people after a coordinated series of suicide bombings in May 2003

The kingdom suffered major attacks last November and in April and May this year, including the kidnapping and killing of westerners.

After Mr Zahrani's arrest, only 11 of the 26 most wanted suspects are believed to remain at large, including Saleh Muhammad al-Aoofi, a former prison guard whom many regard as the leader of al-Qaida in Saudi Arabia.

He is believed to have been promoted to the position after security forces killed Abdulaziz al-Moqrin, the mastermind of the kidnapping and beheading of an American engineer, Paul Johnson.