Saudi Arabia, Turkey voice support for Syrian opposition

Saudi Arabia in 2014 declared IS a terrorist organisation and has detained hundreds of its supporters.

Saudi Arabia has been increasingly clamping down on militant groups’ activities within the kingdom, particularly following a series of bomb attacks primarily targeting the country’s Shia minority. Deputy Prime Ministers Yalçın Akdoğan and Lütfi Elvan, as well as Economy Minister Mustafa Elitaş and Interior Minister Efkan Ala, and spy chief Hakan Fidan are accompanying Davutoğlu.

Over the past week, Saudi authorities have reportedly arrested more than 30 “terror” suspects, including nine American citizens, from different parts of the kingdom.

In response to the execution early in January of 43 IS and al-Qaeda suspects, IS released a statement threatening the House of Saud with “eradication”.

“We wish God’s mercy on those who lost their lives, extend our condolences to their relatives and the brotherly people of Saudi Arabia and hope for a speedy recovery to the injured”, said the ministry.

On Friday, four people died and 18 others were injured when a suicide bomber targeted a mosque in the eastern province of al-Ahsa.

Most of the arrested terrorist suspects are Saudis, but they also include Egyptians, Yemenis, Jordanians, Algerians, Chadians, Nigerians and others from unidentified nationalities.

On Saturday, Saudi Arabia’s Interior Ministry identified one of the attackers in al-Ahsa as 22-year-old Abdulrahman al-Tuwaijri, a Saudi citizen, who detonated an explosive vest outside the Imam Rida mosque in the Mahasen district of Hofuf.