Feral Jundi

Friday, September 25, 2009

Saudi Arabia: Fears Over ‘Internal’ Terror Bomb

   This is interesting.  I could see this adding a whole new level of complexities in this war.  If an x-ray machine couldn’t pick this up, and there is nothing on the outside of the body to indicate a bomb, then this is not cool.  Guys could just board a plane and time the detonation over populated cities.  They could also do much more targeted killings like in the case of this attempted assault. The possibilities are only limited by the imaginations of these miscreants, and we will see if this becomes a trend. –Matt

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Fears over ‘internal’ terror bomb

Saturday, 26 September 2009

By Frank Gardner

Security and intelligence experts are deeply worried by a new development in suicide bombing, the BBC has learned.

It has emerged that an al-Qaeda bomber who died last month while trying to blow up a Saudi prince in Jeddah had hidden the explosives inside his body.

Only the attacker died, but it is feared that the new development could be copied by others.

Experts say it could have implications for airport security, rendering traditional metal detectors “useless”.

Last month’s bombing left people wondering how one of the most wanted al-Qaeda operatives in Saudi Arabia could get so close to the prince in charge of counter-terrorism that he was able to blow himself up in the same room.

(more…)

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Maritime Security: All-Arab Red Sea Anti-piracy Force Proposed in Riyadh

    Interesting. I have no clue about the possible contracting opportunities associated with this, but I am sure we will see some training type gigs if anything.  Maybe Vinnell Arabia type programs will pop up for this stuff?-Matt

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All-Arab Red Sea anti-piracy force proposed in Riyadh

By Paul Handley

June 30, 2009

RIYADH (AFP) — Arab states of the Gulf and Red Sea said on Monday that they are planning a joint anti-piracy force, insisting defence of the crucial Red Sea waterway was the “primary responsibility” of littoral states.

Saying it was necessary to prevent the spread of piracy to the Red Sea or the Gulf, 11 regional states agreed to set up an all-Arab Navy Task Force, to be led at the outset by the Saudis, the official Saudi Press Agency reported.

The delegates to the conference in the Saudi capital stressed the “importance of the exclusion of the Red Sea from any international arrangements, especially the fight against sea piracy.”

Royal Saudi Navy commander Lieutenant General Prince Fahd bin Abdullah told journalists: “This subject is now under negotiation and we are hoping to reach an agreement to form this force.”

Joining the talks were representatives from Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

Fahd said part of the effort would be to design ways of cooperating with the flotillas from some 20 foreign countries now patrolling sea lanes in the Gulf of Aden and off the Horn of Africa to stop pirate attacks.

“One of the objectives of the meeting is to discuss joint Arab coordination with multinational forces operating in the region to combat piracy and to agree on the mechanisms of the Arab contribution” to these efforts, he said.

He said that the Gulf states were involved in the proposed task force because of the danger posed to their shipping, particularly vital oil and gas exports which pass via the Red Sea to the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean.

A joint statement said the Saudi navy will coordinate efforts by the other Arab naval commands on the Red Sea and Gulf for a period of one year and then review the results.

Another meeting on the issue will be scheduled in two months, it said.

More than 70 vessels, including a fully-laden Saudi oil supertanker, have been hijacked for ransom by Somali pirates in the past two years. Despite patrols by a raft of foreign navies, attacks are still frequently reported.

Saudi Arabia has said in recent months that it has stepped up its high-seas patrols for pirates.

The International Maritime Bureau has reported a handful of attempted pirate attacks, none successful, at the southern end of the Red Sea this year, mostly in the strategically important Bab al-Mandab strait linking to the Gulf of Aden.

The bureau recorded no attacks in the Red Sea last year.

But the Saudi push for an all-Arab naval task force could also be related to what diplomats say are Riyadh’s growing worries over the security not only of Red Sea shipping but also of its essential infrastructure in the area, including oil facilities, power generation and desalinisation plants.

Story here.

 

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