Saudi Arabia: Militant groups remain active despite record arrests
(Read article summary)Detainees are accused of having links to Al Qaeda, but human rights groups fear arbitrary arrests have been made.
The last year has seen a major crackdown on alleged Islamic militants in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, according to numbers released by the country's Interior Ministry. The figures suggest that militant groups continue to be active despite recent comments quoted in The Washington Post by General Michael Hayden, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, suggesting a "near strategic defeat for al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia."
According to the BBC, more people were arrested in the past 12 months than in any other year in recent history.
Abu Dhabi's new English-language daily, The National, reports that many of those arrested are accused by Saudi officials of links with Al Qaeda.
Speaking to the Financial Times, General Mansour al-Turki, the Saudi Interior Ministry spokesman, outlined some of the alleged activities of those arrested.
