A criminal court in Riyadh on Wednesday sentenced six people belonging to an eight-member gang to between 10 and 22 years in jail for taking part in terror operations, including masterminding an attack on Interior Minister Prince Muhammad bin Naif.
“The first defendant was accused of taking part in planning the assassination of Prince Muhammad,” an official statement issued by the court said. The attempt on the life of Prince Muhammad took place in August 2009 when he was assistant interior minister for security affairs.
The minister escaped with minor injuries when a wanted terrorist, posing as a well-wisher, blew himself up. The suicide bombing took place at night when Prince Mohammad was receiving a group of people who came to greet him on the occasion of Ramadan at his house in Jeddah.
Soon after the incident, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah visited Prince Muhammad at the hospital to inquire about his health and safety. The king thanked God for saving the minister’s life, and praised his services to the country.
The king asked Prince Mohammad why was the terrorist allowed in without proper checks, to which the prince replied, “It was a mistake.”
Defendant No. 1 was also charged with adopting the “takfiri” (branding opponents as infidels) ideology and associating with those propagating the same ideology, possessing unlicensed guns and carrying a militant disguised as woman in his car, financing terrorism and transferring money to fighters in troubled regions.
The court said the prosecutor had failed to produce evidence required for sentencing the man to death and handed him 22 years in jail and banned him from traveling abroad for a similar period.
Informed Saudi security sources told Arab News that Prince Muhammad, who was the driving force behind the Kingdom’s campaign against terrorism, was the first target of terrorists, adding that they also wanted to assassinate a number of top security officers in the country.
It was the third attempt on Prince Muhammad. In the first attempt, terrorists attacked the Interior Ministry in Riyadh in 2004. The second attempt was in Yemen where they tried to bring down Prince Muhammad’s plane through a rocket attack, one source said.
Terrorist gets 22 years for plotting assassination
