Editorial: A force to be reckoned with

WHEN Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah received the newly appointed Interior Minister Prince Muhammad bin Naif at his palace in Jeddah, and wished him every success, virtually everyone in the Kingdom will have echoed his good wishes.
The few exceptions to this prevailing sentiment are the hidden men of violence, the bigoted killers of Al-Qaeda, who, both here and elsewhere in the world, already have cause to fear the new minister.
This is because, although he has now assumed the crucial leadership of the Interior Ministry, Prince Muhammad has served as the deputy minister for more than 13 years. In that capacity, he has demonstrated that he is a formidable exponent of counter-terrorism.
The first indication of Al-Qaeda’s determination to assault the Kingdom came with a 1995 car bombing which killed five Americans and two Indians at the Riyadh headquarters of the National Guard. Then in June the next year, the terror campaign really got under way with the truck bombing of the Khobar Towers, near Dhahran, which slew 19 US airmen and injured 372 other people, including Saudis.
The intelligence and security forces mounted a major clamp down, which suppressed terror cells until the violence restarted in 2003. For four years, the authorities waged a complex and bitter struggle with Al-Qaeda killers. Prince Muhammad was very much to the fore in this battle. The authorities had a steep learning curve to negotiate, as they worked hard to understand how best to combat the terrorists. The creation of in-depth intelligence records, the collection and analysis of signals intelligence, the identification and covert surveillance of dozens of suspects and their friends and associates, the organization of this substantial but delicate counterterrorist capability, was in large measure, overseen by Prince Muhammad.
As part of this change to the Kingdom’s security, he also was a key mover in the raising and development of a highly-trained elite counterinsurgency force, capable of responding to emergencies or being deployed under cover to shadow and ultimately confront terrorists. Because, by its very nature, much of what this tough force of men does, is hidden from the public eye, it may be a very long time, if indeed, ever, before we can appreciate the debt of gratitude to those in its ranks, as well as to Prince Muhammad, for his pivotal role in bringing it into being and building it up to its present fearsome level.
The success of the counterterrorist campaign can be measured by the virtual elimination of attacks over the last five years. Meanwhile there has been a painstaking round-up of terror suspects. Only last August, two Saudis and six Yemenis were detained in Riyadh and Jeddah on suspicion of being Al-Qaeda operatives. One of the men had blown off his fingers handling explosives and a large quantity of bomb-making materials was found in a Riyadh mosque.
Ironically, the most recent serious terror attack, which took place just over three years ago, was actually on Prince Muhammad himself. Alongside the tough counterterrorist regime, King Abdullah had instituted a far-sighted campaign to persuade Al-Qaeda operatives to turn themselves in and reveal the secrets of their terror cells. In return, if they themselves had committed no killings, they received nominal punishment and were given generous help to re-establish themselves in decent society.
It was by pretending to be another such repentant Al-Qaeda member that Abdullah Hasan Tali Al-Asri was permitted to meet Prince Muhammad, ostensibly to surrender himself to the prince in person. Unfortunately it had not been realized that, despite careful examination, the terrorist had a bomb actually concealed within his own body. Though this was detonated close to Prince Muhammad, he was protected by the attacker’s frame and received only minor injuries.
After such a close brush with death, a lesser man might have been severely shaken for a very long time. Prince Muhammad’s reaction however, was to return to his office as soon as possible and redouble his efforts to keep the Kingdom safe from the terrorists.
It is because of this toughness and this dogged determination, coupled with outstanding organizational powers, that Prince Muhammad is so feared by Al-Qaeda. Therefore it stands to reason that every decent person living in the Kingdom, whether Saudi or expatriate, should wish Prince Muhammad every success in his challenging new task.