The Hindu : Osama's sons to be stripped of Saudi Arabian citizenship

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jul 05, 2003

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Osama's sons to be stripped of Saudi Arabian citizenship

RIYADH JULY 4. Saudi Arabia vowed today to strip Osama bin Laden's sons, living abroad and implicated in terrorist attacks, of their Saudi citizenship.

"Saudi nationality will be stripped from the sons of Osama involved in acts of terrorism and living abroad," the Interior Minister, Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz, told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper.

"They will be stripped of their Saudi nationality, like their father, whose Saudi nationality was withdrawn in 1994 for his involvement in terrorist activities" and criticism of the ruling Saud family, Prince Nayef said.

Osama has 11 sons, three of whom — Abdullah, Ali and Omar — are known to live in Saudi Arabia. Six other sons live abroad while the whereabouts of the remaining two are unclear.Meanwhile, the most wanted Islamic militant and three of his accomplices were killed today by the security forces in the north of the country, the Interior Ministry confirmed. Turky al-Dandani, who was number one on a list of 19 suspects and believed to be the mastermind behind the May 12 suicide attacks in Riyadh that left 35 people dead, was among the four killed in Skaka, Jawf province.

"The security forces went into a house opposite a mosque at Skaka, in the Jawf region, where five terrorists, wanted by the Saudi authorities, had taken refuge," a Ministry spokesman said. "The terrorists opened intense fire against the security forces, using machine guns and hand grenades. The security forces responded and killed four of the terrorists, among them Turky al-Dandani," sources said.

Earlier reports had suggested that Dandani had blown himself up after being cornered. But in London, a Saudi opposition group said: ``Dandani and three of his companions were killed by security forces who surrounded a mosque in Skaka where they had taken refuge.''

``Five policemen were killed and seven others injured in the clashes, which also wounded several Skaka residents,'' the Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia said. Prince Aziz has said 50 people suspected of links to the suicide bombings have been arrested. They include seven women.

— AFP

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