Al Qaeda threatens to topple Saudi government

SANA’A - Terror outfit Al Qaeda’s Yemeni wing has threatened to overthrow the Saudi government “for its participation in the US-led crusade against Islam”.

This message was delivered by Saeed Ali al-Shihri, deputy leader of the Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), in an audio recording posted on the internet, Xinhua reported Wednesday.

“Some members of the Saudi government’s army requested us to give them orders on whether to stay in their jobs or go to Yemen to join Al Qaeda’s camps,” al-Shihri said in the message.

“Those members of the Saudi army provided evidence about the link between the Saudi government and the US-led war in the Arabian peninsula,” he said.

“So we ordered them to collect information on everything related to the Saudi royal family and its government, army, security and air force, and get started in dethroning such an apostate government for its participation in the US-led crusade war against Islam,” he said.

Al-Shihri, a former Guantanamo Bay prisoner, in an earlier audio message had ordered Al Qaeda’s regional cells in Saudi Arabia to abduct Christians and Saudi princes to press for the release of its fighters jailed in Saudi Arabia.

The AQAP has carried out a series of deadly attacks on Yemeni security facilities over the past two months, killing at least 40 people and injuring many others.