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Baghdad: A Saudi held in Iraq told interrogators yesterday that he and eight people from his country were involved in last month's suicide attack on the Abqaiq oil facility in eastern Saudi Arabia, an Iraqi military spokesman said. Abdullah Saleh Al Harbi did not say how many other people were involved in the attack, according to Sa'adoun Al Jabiri, a spokesman for the Iraqi border guard force. Al Harbi gave the names of eight men, saying five of them fled into Iraq while three were still in Saudi Arabia, the spokesman said. One of the three was wounded in a clash with Saudi security forces shortly after the suicide attack. Al Harbi, 32, was apprehended Tuesday by Iraq border guards in the desert along the border between the two countries, Al Jabiri said. Iraqi forces are combing wide border desert areas to find the missing five.
The Saudi identified the eight as Nasser Fahd Al Miteiri, Nafeh Al Ajami, Faisal Khalid Al Miteiri, Fares Mohammad Al Oteibi, Mutaab Sanad Al Harbi, Fahd Abdullah Al Khalidi, Khalid Al Ajami and Midhyal Al Oteibi, Al Jabiri said. The spokesman said Al Harbi told them that their leader was Faisal Khalid Al Miteiri, who was wounded in the shoulder during the clash with Saudi security forces during the attack. The February 24 bombing at Abqaiq was the first attack on an oil facility in Saudi Arabia, which has been battling Al Qaida militants since 2003. Suicide bombers tried to crash two explosives-laden vehicles through a gate of the sprawling facility. One collided with the gate, but guards opened fire, detonating them before they could get through, Saudi officials have said. The Saudi Interior Ministry identified the car bombers as Abdullah Abdul Aziz Al Tweijri and Mohammad Saleh Al Geith, saying both were on a list of the kingdom's 15 most-wanted terrorists that was issued last June. Witnesses of the Abqaiq assault said security forces traded fire with gunmen outside the oil facility after the explosions and combed the area for hours searching for attackers. Saudi officials have not reported the capture of any assailants on the day of the attack. Al Harbi told interrogators on Thursday that he was headed to the Iraqi city of Mosul where he planned to meet cattle merchants who have links with Al Qaida, the spokesman said. Al Harbi added that they planned for the attack in Abqaiq "for some time,"the spokesman said.
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