Last gunmen cornered in mosque — Saudis

Press, 28 November 1979, Page 8

Last gunmen cornered in mosque — Saudis

jNZPA-Reuter Riyadh; ) Saudi security forces have)! I cornered the last hand- < ] ful of a group of rebel 1 ! Muslim gunmen who stormed 1 I Mecca’s Grand Mosque i I a week ago, it was an- ; inounced in Riyadh, the i jSaudi capital, yesterday. t | The Information Minister (Dr Mohammed Abdo Yam- s ani) said on the radio that i the men would be forced to r surrender soon. t “It is like ... a forest t with so many pillars where < (the gunmen could fight tak- i ing cover in them ... it is a i forest of pillars,” he said. The gunmen are the rem- t nants of a group which stor- f med the mosque, Islam’s j holiest shrine, last Tuesday 1 and proclaimed a new Mus- t lim messiah. ( ) It was not known how « many gunmen were still t holding out. 1 Dr Yamani said the secur- t ity forces controlled all exits c from the building. He said al statement on the fighting |t would be made on television)! later by an officer who took t part in the drive to force)! the gunmen out. IS

The Government has so far made no statement on casualties in the attack, but Dr Yamani said King Khalid had chained the consent of religious leaders before allowing his forces to mount an assault on the gunmen in the mosque. “Security forces stormed some of the mosque’s gates and made their way into the mosque, steadily tightening the noose around the few who took cover in a portion of the mosque’s vast basement, Dr Yamani said in his radio statement. The Saudis have not said what w’ill happen to the gunmen, although one religious leader quoted from the Koran during the siege, noted that “those who fight God and his Prophet and endeavour to spread corruption on Earth deserve to be killed or crucified or have their hands and legs cut off, or be exiled from earth.” Diplomaic sources said the rebels were being interrogated to determine their motives. Saudi officials have said the men were Saudis.