P.K. Abdul Ghafour • Arab News Staff

JEDDAH, 15 August 2003 — Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard, yesterday vowed Saudi Arabia would triumph over evil in its war against terror.

In an address to the nation, Prince Abdullah urged Saudis to give their full cooperation to the Kingdom-wide crackdown on militants, and warned that sitting on the fence was not an option.

“In the decisive battle between the powers of good and evil, there is no place for neutrality and no room for stragglers. There is only one path open to honorable believers, which is to stand shoulder to shoulder against the corrupt aggressors in the holiest places on Earth — Makkah and Madinah,” the crown prince said.

Prince Abdullah warned the public against harboring suspected terrorists. “Those who protect or even just sympathize with terrorists are themselves terrorists, and they will receive their just punishment,” the Saudi Press Agency quoted him as saying.

“I am calling on every citizen to be a pillar of support to security officers, and to be the eyes, ears and hands of security officers,” he said, and declared the Kingdom would emerge victorious in its war on terrorism.

Prince Abdullah’s comments followed a major gunbattle on Tuesday between Saudi security forces and suspected militants, the second clash in three days. Three policemen were killed and a militant and two policemen were injured in the shootout in Riyadh’s Al-Suwaidi district.

Prince Abdullah called the security officers who died in the confrontation with militants “martyrs.” He said the state would take care of their families and children.

“Without your sacrifices, the terrorists would not have been defeated,” the crown prince said in his speech in which he hailed the bravery displayed by Saudi security forces in the battle against militants.

“This steadfast state will never forget the martyrs who died in defense of their faith and their nation. It will never forget the heroes injured on duty and the orphans whose fathers died in the battle of right against falsehood,” he said.

The Kingdom has stepped up its campaign against suspected militants following the triple suicide bombings at housing compounds in Riyadh on May 12 when 35 people, including nine terrorists, were killed.

On Wednesday, Washington issued a new travel warning for Saudi Arabia, saying it had credible information of threats against American and Western interests, including civil aviation. Britain also said it had intelligence on security threats to British aviation interests in the Kingdom.

The UK said it believed the gunmen in Sunday’s battle might have been planning attacks on British interests. But Interior Minister Prince Naif denied the British report.

“The report is baseless. The militants who were arrested in a Riyadh district recently... did not intend to attack any British interests,” Al-Riyadh Arabic daily quoted the minister as saying.

Prince Naif, however, did not rule out more terror attacks, but said authorities were on high alert and would purge the country of terrorists.

“Those arrested have links to terrorist organizations, but how or to what extent, we are still investigating,” he said. “We know and expect to uncover future plots,” he said when asked if he expected further attacks.

Prince Naif welcomed Iran’s readiness to hand over any Saudi Al-Qaeda suspects it may be holding. “We have very good security cooperation with the Iranian authorities and we are used to them handing over to us any detained Saudi suspects,” he told Al-Hayat daily. The Kingdom has already asked Iran to hand over any Saudi member of the Al-Qaeda terror network detained in Iran, he said.

Prince Naif had praise for a remark by Iranian President Muhammad Khatami on Wednesday that Iran would “not have any problem with delivering” any Saudi Al-Qaeda members to the Kingdom. Iran has so far declined to reveal the identities of terror suspects it is holding other than to say they are “important and less important members” of the Al-Qaeda network.