The mastermind of the May bombings in Riyadh has been taken into custody in Saudi Arabia, a US official and a source close to the Saudi Embassy in Washington said this evening.
The Saudi-related source said the suspect, Ali Abdul Rachman Al-Gamdi, also known as Abu Bakr al-Azdi, a senior Saudi-based al Qaeda operative, surrendered to Saudi authorities.
But the US official said the man was "captured." "The mastermind of the Saudi bombings has surrendered to Saudi authorities," said the embassy-related source, who asked not to be identified further.
"He has given himself up today and is now in the custody of the Saudis in Saudi Arabia," he said, adding that further details were not immediately available. But the US official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, challenged that description, saying the suspect had been caught.
Car bombs on May 12th ripped apart buildings and homes in three compounds in Riyahd inhabited by Americans and other Westerners, killing 34 people.
The devastating attack shattered any sense that Saudi Arabia might be immune to extremist fundamentalist who have declared war against the United States and also on the kingdom.
It also increased pressure on Saudi Arabia to crack down more intensely on Saudi-based al Qaeda elements and those who helped to finance the group, which is blamed for the Sept 11th, 2001 attacks on the United States.
Al-Gamdi was thought to be planning operations against US targets, possibly within Saudi Arabia or perhaps elsewhere. He fought on the frontlines of Afghanistan and was believed to be present at the beginning of the battle of Tora Bora but left before the heavy US bombing of that area began, a US official said.
He has been linked to key al Qaeda leaders including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the accused mastermind of the September 11th, 2001, attacks, and would have been very knowledgeable about al Qaeda activities within Saudi Arabia. He is close to 30 years old, believed to be born around 1974.