Saudi Arabia Arrests 701 Militants Plotting 'Oil Attacks'

June 26, 2008 - 2:17 ET

Saudi Arabia, a top OPEC player, has arrested more than 700 suspected Islamist militants in the past six months for allegedly plotting attacks on oil industry installations, the interior ministry said Wednesday.

The 701 militants from various countries were arrested in multiple waves, but 181 were later released because there was no proof linking them to the terror network, according to a ministry statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency. The remaining 520 are still in custody, it added.

Security forces "carried out several operations against followers of the deviant ideology and arrested a total of 701 people of various nationalities," a ministry spokesperson was quoted by the Saudi Press Agency.

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