Expert: Saudi royal family is al-Qaida’s chief target

PanARMENIAN.Net - The memories of terrorist attacks in Saudi Arabia between 2003 and 2006 have hardly faded and already the kingdom is preparing itself for the threat of a new round of violence, a report in The Media Line says.

Saudi security forces last week raided cells in Jeddah and Riyadh, uncovering evidence that a new branch of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQPA) is poised to launch a series of attacks. The Ministry of Interior took into custody six Yemenis and two Saudis following the raids.

The Interior Ministry reported there were “recruiting elements to execute criminal attacks targeting security forces, citizens and foreign residents, as well as public installations.” The United States embassy in Riyadh has taken the reports so seriously that it has issued a new emergency warning to American citizens that their safety may be in jeopardy.

The potential for another wave of strikes has worried Saudi authorities.

Like the original wave of attacks, Ahrari says the royal family remains at risk. In August 2009, a suicide bomber injured Prince Nayef when he gained entry to Nayef’s Jeddah home on the pretense of surrendering to the government’s rehabilitation center.

Ehsan Ahrari, a Middle East analyst and chief executive of the Alexandria, Virginia-based Strategic Paradigms, a foreign affairs consultancy agency, says al-Qaida's goal is to attack the royal family.

“The royal family is the chief target,” Ahrari said. “If it were to be overthrown, that will be deemed as one of the major victories of al-Qaida.”