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A spokesman for the Ministry of Interior of Saudi Arabia, who asked his identity to keep in reserve, said those arrested are 47 Saudis, 51 foreign and 15 others, whose nationality is being confirmed. Most foreigners are Yemenis, but there are a large number of Somalis, the source added.

An earlier Interior Ministry reported that only 47 detainees were Saudis and 51 foreigners. According to the spokesman, the alleged terrorists were arrested in different parts of the country. They were part of a single cell linked to Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, linked to the terrorist group led by Osama bin Laden.

According to the statement of Interior Ministry forces Network Security discovered after an infiltration attempt from Yemen two Saudi members of Al Qaeda, last October. Depending on the version, both reached the border disguised as women but the agents found explosives and opened fire, causing death.

Among those arrested, there are twelve suspected terrorists who were to participate in suicide operations and arrested a few days before they launched attacks on oil installations in the area of El Yobeir, in the northeast. The same source also had planned to attack a university recently opened in the city of Jeddah, along the Red Sea.

series of attacks. Saudi Arabia became the stage in May 2003 a series of attacks by radical Islamist groups linked to al Qaeda. Hundreds of suspected al-Qaeda have been arrested by security forces of this country in recent years while others have died while committing their actions or sacrificed in suicide attacks.

The last operation known al Qaeda in Saudi Arabia was committed on 27 August 2009. It was the attempted assassination of the deputy minister for security affairs of the Ministry of Interior, Prince Mohammed bin Nayef bin Abdelaziz.

The senior officer was slightly injured by the explosion of a low-power pump that was in her body a suicide bomber, who had requested an appointment with him with the intention of surrendering to authorities.

The latest campaign of arrests in Saudi Arabia occurred in August and resulted in the arrest of 44 suspected al Qaeda militants and seizing weapons caches.

Early in 2009, Riyadh published a list of 85 suspected members of that terrorist network, among which there were 83 Saudis and two Yemenis.

According to a Saudi Interior Ministry, released last September, authorities in Riyadh have been thwarted in the past six years 31 attacks extremist groups linked to Al Qaeda.