Saudi Arabia Arrests 44 Terror Suspects

Saudi Arabia Wednesday it had arrested 44 militants belonging to a “deviant group” planning attacks and seized weapons and electronic detonators fro their possession.

Those held include 43 Saudi nationals and an unidentified foreign resident, said the state news agency SPA citing a statement issued by the Interior Ministry.

The Saudi government normally uses “deviant group” while referring to hard-line Islamic militant outfits such as the al Qaeda.

Though the arrests were carried out between July 10 and Aug. 2 the detentions were only confirmed by the government on Wednesday.

The statement said 17 Kalashnikov rifles, 50 machineguns and 96 remote electronic detonators and a huge cache of ammunition has been sized from the capital Riyadh and the northern province of Qassim.

Without divulging further details the statement said the module was “exploiting charity work to execute criminal plans”.

The communiqué added that some of those arrested underwent weapons training inside the kingdom and abroad.