Al-Jazeera television station said Friday that Saudi police arrested over 170 people suspected of preparing a series of hijackings and terrorist attacks in and outside the country. Most of those detained in the largest counterterrorism operation are Saudi citizens. Special services, which seized over $5 million in cash and a large cache of firearms, said the gunmen were planning to reinforce their ranks by taking over a prison and freeing the inmates.
"We can only support the decisive measures by Saudi Arabia to enhance security and stability in the country and to root out a network of terrorism," Mikhail Kamynin said. "We view the antiterrorism operation conducted by Saudi Arabian law enforcement bodies as a considerable contribution to the international efforts in the fight against terrorism."
The diplomat added that Russia stands against all forms of terrorism, which is the gravest crime against mankind.
Saudi television quoted the country's Interior Ministry Friday as saying that some of those suspects detained in the operation, had undergone pilot training abroad to carry out operations against a number of facilities, including the country's oil infrastructure and military bases.
In the past four years, Saudi security forces have stepped up efforts to break up cells of the al-Qaeda global terrorist network in the country. Western experts said Saudi security forces had detained or killed most al-Qaeda members in the kingdom, including senior masterminds.
