Authorities in Bahrain said that the Bahraini fugitive named by the Saudi interior ministry among the terror suspects implicated in attacks on people and government installations had consistently taken part in riots in Qateef in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province.

The fugitive, Hassan Mahmood Ali Abdullah, was born in Syria to a Bahraini father and Saudi mother and has two brothers who have taken part in terrorist acts.

One of the brothers was killed in crossfire with the Saudi police, and the father was deported from Saudi Arabia and banned from re-entering the country, Bahrain’s General Director of Criminal Investigation and Forensic Science said as he gave further information on the fugitive.

On Sunday, the Saudi interior ministry said it foiled a major terrorist attack and that it identified nine suspects, eight Saudi nationals and one Bahraini implicated in a string of terror cases in Al Qateef and Dammam. The nine suspects are still on the run, the ministry said.

Following the Saudi statement, Bahrain issued arrest warrants for all the suspects at its ports, saying the move was “part of the Interior Ministry’s counterterrorism strategy that protects lives, property, security and general safety

The General Director said the Bahraini man identified by the Saudis as a terror suspect had left Bahrain in 2012.

“Our information indicates the Bahraini suspect left the country via the King Fahd Causeway in 2012,” he said.

The 25-kilometre causeway, opened in 1986, is the only terrestrial link between Bahrain and Saudi Arabia and is used by thousands of commuters and travellers daily.

According to the Saudi authorities, the attacks by the nine suspects targeted Saudi citizens, foreigners and securitymen, damaged public facilities and security and economic establishments and attempted to stall everyday life.

The investigations used the results of laboratory tests on evidence collected at the attack sites to identify the suspects, the interior ministry added.

The ministry called on the suspects to surrender to the security authorities and warned people against dealing with them in any way.

“Those who dealt with the suspects in the past and were used to provide them with services should see this statement as an opportunity to clarify their stance with the security agencies in order to avoid being held as accomplices or legally accountable for their acts,” the ministry said.

“Those with details about any of the suspects should contact a security agency promptly and receive rewards of one million Saudi Riyals (Dh980,000) if their information leads to the arrest of one suspect. The reward is increased to five million Saudi Riyals in case two suspects are arrested and to seven million in case an act of terrorism is foiled.

source : gulfnews