Bin Laden aide surrenders to Saudis
A confidant of Osama bin Laden, seen on a videotape with the al-Qaida chief as he talked about the September 11 terror attacks, has surrendered to Saudi diplomats in Iran and has been flown to the Saudi capital.
Khaled bin Ouda bin Mohammed al-Harby, a potentially valuable asset in the war on terror because of his close relationship to bin Laden, was shown on Saudi TV Tuesday being pushed in a wheelchair through the Riyadh airport.
Al-Harby is the most important figure to surface under a Saudi amnesty promising to spare the lives of militants who turn themselves in.
“Thank God, thank God … I called the embassy and we were very well-received,” al-Harby told Saudi TV in the airport terminal. “I have come obeying God, and obeying the (kingdom’s) rulers.”
Al-Harby – also known as Abu Suleiman al-Makky – is considered a sounding board for the al-Qaida chief rather than an operational planner for his terror network, a US counterterrorism official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Another US official said al-Harby was not a senior member of al-Qaida. The official, who declined to be identified, called him “an ageing mujahideen".
The Interior Ministry did not say what al-Harby is wanted for, but a Saudi security official said he is an al-Qaida member.
Mansour al-Nogaidan, a Riyadh journalist and former militant, said al-Harby appeared on a videotape released in November 2001 in which bin Laden described the planning of the September 11 attacks.
Al-Nogaidan said al-Harby was disabled in both legs while fighting the Soviets in Afghanistan. He used to preach in a mosque in Mecca, but left Saudi Arabia for Afghanistan shortly after the September 11 attacks.
Al-Harby was seen on a video after the September 11 attacks, seated with bin Laden at a dinner where he talked about the attacks, according to a US counter-terror official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Al-Harby is considered a confidant and sounding board of bin Laden’s, as opposed to an operational planner, the official said.
On the videotape, bin Laden praised the attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon, and credited them with inspiring conversions to Islam.
In a statement, the Interior Ministry said al-Harby contacted the Saudi Embassy in Tehran from the Iranian-Afghan border, where he was stranded. It was not disclosed what al-Harby was wanted for, and his name does not appear on the kingdom’s list of 26 most-wanted militants.
Some al-Qaida operatives close to bin Laden – notably Khalid Shaikh Mohammed - have provided vital intelligence to US officials seeking top terror suspects and clues to attack plots. However, he is in American custody, and it was not immediately clear how much access US authorities would have to al-Harby or his interrogation.
Wearing traditional white robes and Arab head-dress, al-Harby was carried off the plane before being put in a wheelchair. He was accompanied by his wife, dressed all in black, and their son, a Saudi security official said.
The Interior Ministry said al-Harby will be taken to a hospital, but it did not elaborate on his condition.
Al-Harby is the third man to take advantage of the month long amnesty that King Fahd offered militants June 23. Othman Hadi Al Maqboul al-Amri, No 21 on Saudi Arabia’s most-wanted list, also surrendered.
Al-Harby described the amnesty as a “generous offer” and urged other militants to take advantage of it.
Separately, Interior Minister Prince Nayef acknowledged for the first time yesterday that Saudis had infiltrated neighbouring Iraq to join the insurgency against US-led forces.
“Surely, there are Saudis,” Prince Nayef told reporters late on Monday of the foreign fighters detained in Iraq. “But the number, and how (they got in to Iraq) is not available to us now.”
His statement came after repeated denials of Iraqi reports that that Saudis are fighting in the insurgency.
Iraq’s Human Rights Minister Bakhtiyar Amin said on Monday that there were 14 Saudis among 99 foreign fighters in detention. Also, Saudi newspapers have published obituaries and funeral reports for at least four Saudis said to have died fighting in Iraq.
Prince Nayef said that hundreds of other militants have been detained and some have already been convicted in court. He did not provide exact numbers, but he said more trials were coming.
Nayef warned that there would be no extension to the amnesty, which expires July 23, and declared that the kingdom’s fight against terror is not over.
Since May 2003, the country has suffered a series of suicide bombings, gunbattles and kidnappings that tended to target foreign workers. The attacks have been blamed on al-Qaida and its sympathisers.
“There are still things we have to deal with, and we should not be surprised if anything happens,” Nayef said. ”We are totally prepared to face any emergency.”
Iraq is expected to raise the subject of infiltration at a gathering of foreign ministers of neighbouring states that will be held July 21 in Cairo, Egypt.
Besides the Saudis, Iraq has said it has in custody 26 Syrians, 14 Iranians, 12 Egyptians, nine Sudanese, five Palestinians, five Yemenis, five Jordanians, five Tunisians, a Lebanese, a Moroccan, a Turk and an Afghan.
