TV station footage ‘an act to incite terrorism’

THE newly-appointed assistant to the chief of Saudi Arabia’s intelligence services has accused Qatar’s Al-Jazeera satellite channel of inciting terrorism.

Prince Abdul Aziz bin Bandar bin Abdul Aziz described as “an act to incite terrorism” footage aired last Friday by the channel purporting to show the suicide bombers of a Riyadh residential compound minutes before they carried out their deadly attack last November.

“This is not surprising,” he said in the statement carried by the daily Okaz newspaper.

“Since its launch (in 1996), this channel incites terrorism. This incitement is not since the events of September 11, 2001, but long before,” he added, referring to the terror attacks on the United States, in which 15 of the 19 suspected hijackers were Saudis.

The statement came a day after Prince Abdul Aziz was named by decree to assist the kingdom’s 72-year-old intelligence chief Prince Nawaf bin Abdul Aziz.

Al-Jazeera has had strained relations with the Saudi government since its presentation in June 2002 of a debate in which participants denounced a Mid-East peace plan proposed by Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah.

The channel is popular among Arab viewers but has irked many governments in the region for tackling political, social and at times sexual issues, previously regarded as taboo.

The station has attracted international attention through its coverage of the US military campaign in Afghanistan and broadcasting videotaped statements of al-Qaida leader Osama bin-Laden.

Prince Abdul Aziz also defended his country against accusations among certain parties in the US that the kingdom was not co-operating enough in the war on terror.

“How is the kingdom not co-operating when it is itself the target of terrorism?” he asked. Saudi Arabia has battled and rounded up hundreds of suspected Islamist militants since 52 people died in bombings of Riyadh residential compounds last year.