Al-Rass battle was another nail in Al-Qaeda's coffin, writes Rasheed Abou-Alsamh in Jeddah The longest battle yet between Saudi security forces and Al-Qaeda-linked terrorists in Al-Rass from 3-5 April was also the bloodiest. When the dust settled in the small Al-Qassim town 320kms northwest of the capital Riyadh, 15 terrorists were dead, including two of the most wanted -- Saud Al-Otaibi, a Saudi, and Abdul-Kareem Al- Majati, a Moroccan -- both involved in the Madrid train bombings last year. It was unclear whether Saleh Al-Oufi, the leader of Al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia, was among the dead. The intensity of the battle, in which the terrorists used rocket-propelled grenades, homemade bombs and machine-guns to fend off the security forces, left many of the killed terrorists disfigured beyond recognition. The Ministry of Interior said it had airlifted their remains to Riyadh where DNA tests would be carried out on the bodies to try and identify them. Crown Prince Abdullah, the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, hailed the victory at Al-Rass in a speech this week, vowing that the Saudi government, with the help of its security forces, would defeat terrorism. "They [the terrorists] are threatening your faith and nation as well as your women, children, fathers and brothers," he said, urging all Saudis to join hands in combating terror. "What happened in Al-Rass is important because it demonstrates the government's commitment to keep up the anti-terror campaign," said Kevin Rosser, an analyst with the London-based Control Risks Group. "We don't know much about the structure of these terror groups which are operating on different agendas," he added. "Does it mean that the leadership has been dismantled? It's premature to say it's complete." Critics of the kingdom had complained about the tendency of the Saudi government to announce that the last Al-Qaeda cell in the country has been destroyed after every clash with terrorists. The government now seems to have realised the folly of issuing such sweeping statements, and refrained from doing so after the Al-Rass clashes. "The important thing for the Saudi government is sustaining these efforts," said Rosser. "The focus needs to be on the long term. So far, they've had a very well crafted policy of confronting radicalism on all fronts. The real test is whether they can keep it up. The Saudi government has to make sure that any short-term gains do not become a long-term slide into complacency." The 15 Al-Qaeda terrorists were killed in Al- Rass after security forces followed a group of suspicious men on 3 April to their hideout after they had refused to stop at a security checkpoint north of Riyadh. The heavily-fortified villa in which they were holed-up was located in a residential area and near a school for girls. Security forces were forced to demolish the back wall of the girl's school on Sunday night to rescue the frightened students and teachers after they were trapped inside because of the crossfire between security forces and the terrorists. A large cache of ammunition, 250,000 riyals in cash and a check for 20 million Saudi riyals were all found in the terrorists' lair after the three-day standoff came to an end, indicating how well- armed and financed they were. Some analysts have speculated that Al-Qaeda is constantly replenishing its cells in Saudi Arabia with new Saudi recruits who have been battle-trained in neighboring Iraq and have helped Iraqi rebels launch attacks on American troops there. But Rosser disagrees, saying that "the number of Saudis in Iraq has probably been exaggerated. The border is heavily policed and it's not the policy of any neighbouring country to help Saudis infiltrate, except perhaps in the past for Syria. People have underestimated how difficult it actually is to set-up an underground railroad." Other analysts have said that Al-Qaeda seems to have now shifted its attacks in the kingdom from targeting Westerners to the royal family itself and oil installations. But there is little evidence to suggest that this is case, with the bloody attack on the United States Consulate in Jeddah last December in which five consulate workers were killed, proof that Westerners remain a key target of the terrorists. "There's been no shift in terrorists' target," said Rosser. "I think we're dealing with different groups who have different aims. For sure, most of the so-called veterans, who have combat experience in Afghanistan and Chechnya, have been wiped out in clashes with Saudi security forces, but there are the vigilantes who remain a much more diffuse and unpredictable threat." Rosser believes that the Saudi government must continue its multi-pronged approach to fighting terrorism that it has so far been doing with success, namely: cracking down on terrorism financing; reforming the educational curriculum; providing a platform for political participation by holding the municipal elections; and finally by providing more jobs to young, unemployed Saudis.
