Saudi Arabian Most Wanted List
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Periodically
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...
's
Ministry of Interior An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, th ...
publishes a
most wanted list A most wanted list is a list of criminals and alleged criminals who are believed to be fugitive, at large and are identified as a law enforcement agency's highest priority for capture. The list can alert the public to be watchful, and generates ...
. According to ''
Asharq Alawsat ''Asharq Al-Awsat'' (, meaning "The Middle East") is an Arabic international newspaper headquartered in London. A pioneer of the "off-shore" model in the Arabic press, the paper is often noted for its distinctive green-tinted pages. Although pu ...
'' Saudi Arabia has published four lists of "most wanted" suspected terrorists, and those lists contained 19, 26, 36 and 85 individuals. The list of 85 most wanted suspected terrorists published in February 2009 named eleven former
Guantanamo captives The Guantanamo Bay detention camp, also known as GTMO ( ), GITMO ( ), or simply Guantanamo Bay, is a United States military prison within Naval Station Guantanamo Bay (NSGB), on the coast of Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. It was established in 2002 by p ...
.


Earlier lists

On May 7, 2003, the Saudi Interior Ministry announced a list of 19 names who it said were planning to carry out subversive activities. On May 12, 2003, the
Riyadh compound bombings Two major bombings took place in residential compounds in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on 12 May 2003, 39 people were killed, and over 160 wounded (mostly Westerners) when bombs went off at three compounds in Riyadh—Dorrat Al Jadawel, Al Hamra Oasis ...
took place.


List of December 6, 2003

A list published on December 5, 2003 contained twenty-six names. When a new list was published in February 2009 Carol Rosenberg, writing in the ''
Miami Herald The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by McClatchy, The McClatchy Company and headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Founded in 1903, it is the fifth-largest newspaper in Florida, serving Miami-Dade, Broward County, Fl ...
'', reported that all, but one of the captives had been killed or captured.


List of June 28, 2005

The list of June 28, 2005 contained thirty-six names. The Saudi government encouraged those named on the list to surrender, and promised lenient treatment. By April 7, 2007 the Saudi government reported that twenty-three of those individuals had been killed or captured.


List of February 3, 2009

The most recently published list was published on February 3, 2009. It listed 85 individuals, 83 of whom were Saudis, and two were from
Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...
. Carol Rosenberg, reporting in the ''Miami Herald'', wrote that six of the men on the new most wanted list were former
Guantanamo captive The Guantanamo Bay detention camp, also known as GTMO ( ), GITMO ( ), or simply Guantanamo Bay, is a United States military prison within Naval Station Guantanamo Bay (NSGB), on the coast of Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. It was established in 2002 by ...
s. Robert Worth, reporting in the ''
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', wrote that fourteen Saudis, formerly held in Guantanamo, had fallen under suspicion of supporting terrorism following their release. The men were all believed to be living outside of Saudi Arabia, some of them receiving militant training. They were promised lenient treatment, and encouraged to turn themselves in at the nearest Saudi embassy. Those on the new list include three Saudis who appeared in a threatening al Qaeda video: Said Ali al-Shihri, Abu Hareth Muhammad al-Awfi and Nasir al-Wuhayshi, and another individual named Abdullah al-Qarawi. Al-Wuhayshi claims he is the leader of Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula. Al-Shihri and Al-Awfi are former Guantanamo captives, and Al-Shihri stated he was Al-Wuyashi's deputy. The ''
Saudi Gazette ''Saudi Gazette'' is an English-language daily newspaper launched in 1976 and published in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. It is only available online, as the print version was discontinued in 2019. It is the second English-language daily newspaper in Saud ...
'' reported that Saudi security officials identified an individual named Saleh Al-Qaraawi as the leader of Al Qaeda in Saudi Arabia. An article published in ''
Asharq Alawsat ''Asharq Al-Awsat'' (, meaning "The Middle East") is an Arabic international newspaper headquartered in London. A pioneer of the "off-shore" model in the Arabic press, the paper is often noted for its distinctive green-tinted pages. Although pu ...
'' on February 6, 2009, noted the range in age among the suspects—from seventeen to fifty-two. This article named Abdullah El Qarawi, who it described as the "most dangerous" individual on the list, as the leader of Al Qaeda operations in the Persian Gulf. According to the article Abdullah El Qarawi is just 26 years old, and most of the individuals on the list are between 25 and 25. The article listed the names and ages of fifteen other individuals. Another article in the ''Asharq Alawsat'' identified other individual from the list, including: Abdullah al-Abaed—wanted for the assassination of a senior police official, and Mohamed Abul-Khair, one of Osama bin Laden's bodyguards, and one of his sons-in-law. On February 7, 2009 the ''
Saudi Gazette ''Saudi Gazette'' is an English-language daily newspaper launched in 1976 and published in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. It is only available online, as the print version was discontinued in 2019. It is the second English-language daily newspaper in Saud ...
'' reported some details of some of the wanted men. The article named seven men it identified as former Guantanamo captives, and five other most wanted suspected terrorists it did not identify as former Guantanamo captives.


List of January 2011

December 6, 2003 list According to the ''Saudi Gazette'', the list was published by
Interpol The International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL (abbreviated as ICPO–INTERPOL), commonly known as Interpol ( , ; stylized in allcaps), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and crime cont ...
on January 5, 2011. They reported one of the wanted men was 18, 34 of the men were between 20 and 30, and the remaining 12 were between 30 and 40. The list of 47 suspects included the following individuals:


Suspects who remain at large, or otherwise unaccounted for

According to the
Agence France Presse Agence France-Presse (; AFP) is a French international news agency headquartered in Paris, France. Founded in 1835 as Havas, it is the world's oldest news agency. With 2,400 employees of 100 nationalities, AFP has an editorial presence in 260 c ...
, the SPA News Agency reported on May 23, 2009, that three Saudis suspected of ties to Al Qaida returned to Saudi Arabia and turned themselves in to authorities. The ''
Arab News ''Arab News'' is an English-language daily newspaper published in Saudi Arabia. It is published from Riyadh. The target audiences of the paper, which is published in broadsheet format, are businesspeople, executives and diplomats. At least as ...
'' reported the identities of the three men were not made public, but that they had not been listed on the February 2009 most-wanted list. The ''
Saudi Gazette ''Saudi Gazette'' is an English-language daily newspaper launched in 1976 and published in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. It is only available online, as the print version was discontinued in 2019. It is the second English-language daily newspaper in Saud ...
'' reported that only two of the men voluntarily surrendered and that the third man was captured in Yemen. On October 19, 2010, when reporting the surrender of
Jabir Jubran Al Fayfi Jabir Jubran Al Fayfi (also Jabir Jubran Al Fayfi and Jaber Jabran Ali Al-Fayfee and Jaber Al-Fifi; born in 1975 in Ta'if, Saudi Arabia) is a citizen of Saudi Arabia who was held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantánamo Bay dete ...
and Badr Mohammed Nasser al-Shihri, the
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...
asserted that 70 of the original 85 men named on the list remained at large or unaccounted for.


References


External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saudi List Of Most Wanted Suspected Terrorists Fugitives wanted by Saudi Arabia Most wanted lists Terrorism-related lists Crime in Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia-related lists *