ON TO NIHILISM:

Al-Qaeda 'targeting Muslim holy month of Ramadan' (The Scotsman, 11/05/03)

PRINCE Nayef, the Saudi Arabia interior minister, said yesterday his country had thwarted a terror attack on pilgrims in the holy city of Mecca by militants believed to be linked to Osama bin Laden and the al-Qaeda terror network.

"These people are targeting the [holy Muslim] month of Ramadan," he told the leading Saudi ne wspaper, al-Riyadh. "They wanted to make the entire country a place for terror without any exception and even in the holiest place on Earth, where Saudis and non-Saudis come to pray to God." [...]

A western diplomat said the latest clash did not necessarily show a rise in militant activity but was part of a growing resolve by Saudi authorities to battle militancy since suicide bombings in Riyadh killed 35 people in May.

"I don't see an increase in the number of operations by the terrorists but I see a steady stream of counter terrorism conducted by the Saudis since the May bombing," the Riyadh-based diplomat said.

He said by choosing to attack Muslim pilgrims, the militants wanted to challenge and undermine the Saudi authorities. "The motive is to make life difficult for the Saudis. By conducting such operations they create problems for them."

By killing other Muslims?

Posted by Orrin Judd at November 5, 2003 7:56 AM