Officials: Saudi Arabia Thwarted Suicide Bombing Attack on US Embassy
— -- The Saudi Arabian government and U.S. intelligence officials said today that the Middle East nation has arrested nearly 100 alleged terror plotters who planned a series of attacks, including one aimed at the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh.
In an announcement carried by the Saudi Press Agency today, Saudi Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mansour al-Turki said authorities uncovered the plot by a militant cell involving at least two Syrian citizens and a Saudi citizen to attack the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh in mid-March.
The Saudi national, who had a criminal record according to the Interior Ministry, was arrested April 18 when authorities searched his car and found pipes, batteries, mobile chargers and a few electric wires, officials said.
The state-run Saudi Press Agency reported at least one of the Syrians and the Saudi citizen were part of a group of 93 people arrested over ties to ISIS, including 65 Saudi citizens involved in planning attacks on residential compounds, prisons and security forces.
Multiple U.S. intelligence officials confirmed to ABC News the reports from the Saudi Press Agency and the Interior Ministry, with one senior U.S. official saying the Saudis had rolled up “the cells” and that there was a “legitimate plot.” The U.S. officials said the 93 arrests occurred over recent weeks.
A spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh had no immediate comment.
The U.S. Embassy as well as diplomatic missions in Jiddah and Dhahran were shuttered around mid-March due to security fears and the timing of the closures appears to match the timing of this plot.
Saudi Arabia is a member of the American-led coalition targeting ISIS in Syria and Iraq.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
