Militant Islam Strikes Back
May 13, 2003
By Toby Westerman
Copyright 2003 International News Analysis Today
www.inatoday.com
The attack on U.S. and other foreign residents in the Saudi capital of Riyadh, which may have cost the lives of "over one hundred," according to the German news magazine Der Spiegel, is the latest counter-strike by Islamic militants after the fall of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
The highly coordinated and deadly assault aimed at foreigners in Saudi Arabia is a major embarrassment to the Saudi government, a prime target of militant Islamic groups.
Not only is Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda terror network still active in Saudi Arabia, but a new group, the Mujahedeen in the Arabian Peninsula, has come into prominence,.
Observers are concerned about the stability of Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil producer.
A Tokyo petroleum analyst expressed his concern that further terror attacks against the Saudis would be "an attack on the oil sector"and prove to be "a disaster," according to the Der Spiegel report.
Earlier this month the Saudi government uncovered a cache of weapons and explosives, which Der Spiegel estimated to be worth 50,000 dollars.
Militant Islam's ability to mount a coordinated attack following the fall of Saddam's regime has produced consternation worldwide. Germany, which, like other European nations, has a large Moslem population, is reexamining its security measures.
German intelligence has traced the activity of several terror network operatives working in Germany, especially in Hamburg.
Following the Riyadh attack, German Interior Minister Otto Schily warned of "stricter precautions" against terror attacks occurring within Germany's usually open society.
While the U.S. and foreign nations count their dead and wounded in Riyadh, neighboring coalition-occupied Iraq remains unstable, with ominous developments unfolding.
In April, a pro-American Muslim religious leader, Abd al-Majid al-Khoi, was assassinated shortly after returning to Iraq from exile in London.
Al-Khoi was not only pro-American, he was also a potential counterweight to the rising tide of Islamic fundamentalism in newly liberated Iraq.
The most prominent leader of Islamic fundamentalism in Iraq today is Ayatollah Muhammad Baqir al-Hakim, who leads the Iranian-backed Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI).
Al-Hakim just returned from 23 years of exile in Iran. Despite his long years of exile, al-Hakim's influence remains considerable.
Upon his arrival in the Iraqi city of Basra, he addressed a stadium of over 100,000 of his followers, and demanded that the U.S.-led coalition leave Iraq.
Al-Hakim's followers are prepared to do more than be passive observers. Al-Hakim also leads a guerrilla army estimated to have eight to ten thousand fighters, with bases in neighboring Iran, a burgeoning nuclear power.
Copyright 2003
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