Saudi Oil Field Conspiracy
The Saudi Oil Field Conspiracy refers to a significant security incident that unfolded in Saudi Arabia in April 2007, involving the arrest of 172 individuals alleged to be plotting attacks on oil field installations and military targets. While Saudi officials did not explicitly connect the suspects to al Qaeda, analysts interpreted the term "deviant group" used by authorities as a reference to the organization led by Osama bin Laden. The arrests followed an extensive investigation and revealed that the suspects were organized into multiple cells, with some having received military training abroad, including in countries associated with al Qaeda. Weapons caches, including explosives and firearms, were uncovered in desert locations, highlighting the seriousness of the conspiracy.
The incident underscored a troubling shift in the relationship between the Saudi government and Islamist radicals, as the country had historically supported militant groups outside its borders to mitigate domestic threats. This plot also emphasized vulnerabilities in Saudi Arabia's oil infrastructure, crucial to the global economy, signaling a potential turning point in the kingdom's approach to managing radicalism internally. The foiled attacks represented a broader struggle against extremist ideologies that have justified violence against both Western interests and fellow Muslims in the region.
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Saudi Oil Field Conspiracy
Summary: Saudi police arrested 172 suspects on charges of plotting attacks on Saudi oil field installations. Police also said they had captured caches of weapons in the desert. Officials did not explicitly link the plotters with al Qaeda, but analysts said the term used, "a deviant group," referred to the group led by Osama bin Laden. "Saudi officials said some of the suspects had taken pilot training abroad, strongly suggesting the prospective use of airplane attacks against Saudi targets.
Date: April 27, 2007.
Place: Saudi Arabia.
Incident: Saudi Arabia arrested 172 alleged conspirators in a plot to launch attacks on oil field installations and recovered caches of weapons hidden in the desert. Officials said the plotters were linked to al Qaeda.
Context: Saudi Arabia has long taken a laissez-faire attitude towards al Qaeda's activities elsewhere, only to become the target of fundamentalists who have declared the Saudi government a target.
Known or presumed perpetrators: Although Saudi Arabia did not explicitly blame al Qaeda, analysts said the conspiracy seemed to be linked to the organization.
Impact: The alleged conspiracy was broken up before any action occurred, but underscored that Saudi Arabia had become a target of the fundamentalist Islamist terror movement.
The Incident: On April 27, 2007, officials of Saudi Arabia announced the arrest of 172 individuals described as plotters in a conspiracy to attack Saudi oil fields, military posts, and officials and to free terrorist suspects from prison. The government said it had recovered a cache of weapons buried in the desert and over five million USD in cash.
Officials said the arrests resulted from an ongoing investigation that had begun at least seven months earlier.
Television images showed officials digging up explosives, handguns, and rifles from desert areas.
An official Interior Ministry statement said the plot involved suicide attacks against oil installations and military bases "outside and inside" Saudi Arabia.
Perpetrators/Suspects. The Saudi announcement blamed the plot on "a deviant group." This phrase is often used by Saudi officials to allude to al Qaeda. Officials said the suspects had been trained in Somalia, Afghanistan, and Iraq—countries where al Qaeda is believed to have a presence. (The Associated Press subsequently quoted the government spokesman as specifically mentioning al Qaeda.)
The Interior Ministry said the suspects were organized into seven cells around the country. Most of those arrested were Saudi citizens. Some suspects had received training outside Saudi Arabia in piloting aircraft; no further details of the role of airplanes in the plot were provided in the initial announcement.
One cell was said to have been on the verge of launching an attack.
Although Saudi officials did not explicitly blame al Qaeda, US officials in Washington said the plot had hallmarks of an al Qaeda operation.
Broader Impact: A statement about the plot by Gen. Mansour al-Turki, an Interior Ministry spokesman, referred to "takfir ideology." Takfir is an idea that Muslims can declare other Muslims to be unbelievers and thereby avoid Islam's prohibition against killing other Muslims. This idea became prominent in late twentieth century Islamic writing used to justify terrorist tactics against not only Western interests but also against targets inside Islamic countries.
The existence of a plot against the basis of the Saudi economy and its oil industry, underscored an apparent shift in the relationship between the Saudi government and Islamist radicals. For a time, Saudi Arabia took a position of providing support for Islamist radicals outside the kingdom as a form of subtle bribe aimed at avoiding terrorist attacks against the Saudi government. Some observers strongly suggested that the plot was evidence that the Saudi position was shifting toward cracking down on radical Islamists inside the kingdom.
It also pointed out yet another vulnerability in the chain of petroleum production and delivery on which most industrialized economies are highly dependent.
Bibliography
Blackman, Michael. (27 April 2007). Saudis round up 172, citing plot against oil rigs." The New York Times. Retrieved Sept. 26, 2023, from http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/28/world/middleeast/28saudi.html?%5Fr=1&n=Top%2fNews%2fWorld%2fCountries%20and%20Territories%2fSaudi%20Arabia&oref=slogin
Saudi police arrest 172 accused of plotting attacks. (2007, April 27). The New York Times. Retrieved Sept. 26, 2023, from https://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/27/world/africa/27iht-saudi.3.5475775.html