Dubai: Saudi analysts and experts have welcomed a government crackdown on terror suspects undertaken this week.
Riyadh arrested this week several Saudi nationals and foreigners over suspicious activities with foreign parties as well as two Yemeni supporters of Daesh who had plotted to carry out suicide attacks on two buildings belonging to the defence ministry.
The security operations reflect the high competence of the Saudi security agencies tasked with combating terrorism, Justice Minister Shaikh Waleed Al Samaani said, quoted by Saudi daily Al Riyadh.
The arrests are an extension of Saudi Arabia’s dedicated efforts to combat terrorism, tackle its funding and support and addressing extremist ideologies, he added.
“The success of the security operations also indicates the extent of the danger, threats and challenges that Saudi Arabia is facing,” he said.
The minister praised the “high level of awareness in the Saudi society” and pointed out how Saudis rejected terrorism and the extremist ideology behind it.
Nayef Al Wiqaa, a strategy analyst, said there were aggressive attacks on Saudi Arabia and suspicious calls to influence people by lone wolves, Iran’s National Guard, Qatar and Al Houthis.
“This is a war on the kingdom and for the elimination of Saudi society by Saudis who often appear in the media and who were recruited by foreign countries,” he said.
“People will be shocked when these Saudis are identified. These people use religion as a façade and none of them expressed supportive stance towards the state as it was waging a war on terrorism. In fact, they expressed doubts and none of their excuses should be accepted.”
In a column in a Saudi daily, columnist Mohammad Al Shaikh said the time has come to take action against people in Saudi Arabia working against the kingdom.
“We are all familiar with the conspiracy by Qatar against Saudi Arabia, so let’s leave them and focus instead of the fifth column they set up in the kingdom,” he wrote.
“Let us deal with those who have repeatedly taken the road to Qatar with light luggage and came back with heavy suitcases. They should be investigated and the money they received there should be tracked. They were not given the money as a gesture of gracious generosity, but rather to implement the Qatari agenda to carry out acts of sabotage.”
Columnist Salman Al Dossari said that social media is a key tool used by conspirators to target Saudi Arabia.
“With the expansion of social media, people found themselves increasingly attached to it,” he wrote.
“Saudis suddenly found themselves ample opportunities to express themselves freely and without any control. At the same time, some famous people saw in the social media, mainly the social microblog Twitter, an opportunity to reach out to people. For them, it was a transition from the age of cassettes and tapes to computers and mobiles. They used it to incite the street, erode national unity, and cause chaos in every possible way, mainly by labelling it as reform.”
Under the label of “reforms” numerous things can be done. Even through inciting revolutions or questioning the credibility of all state institutions.”
