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CNN Live At Daybreak
Saudis Arrest Suspects in Saturday Bombing
Aired November 11, 2003 - 06:01 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Arrests this morning in Riyadh and word of a mistake. We know the Saudis have taken several people into custody, and we know whoever the bombers were may have made a mistake. They meant to target Americans.
Nic Robertson is live in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We now understand from Saudi government sources that several people have been detained subsequent to the attack on Saturday night. Those people and other members of al Qaeda, or at least certainly the Saudi government sources we're talking to, say that they believe those people are members are al Qaeda.
According to these Saudi government sources, these members of al Qaeda, when they've been interrogated, have told their Saudi interrogators that they had believed the compound that they were attacking was a compound that housed Americans and not Arabs. And certainly at this time, this is giving the Saudi government cause, at this stage at least, to believe that perhaps al Qaeda made a mistake in its targeting -- targeting Arabs rather than Americans, at least this is something that the Saudi government is giving very strong consideration to at this time.
We also understand today that al Qaeda has had a message of responsibility published in a political magazine here -- that political magazine owned by a senior member of the Saudi royal family. This magazine has in the past printed such claims of responsibility by al Qaeda. It has in the past generally proven to be reliable inasmuch as these claims initially published there have been followed up on Web sites that al Qaeda used as these claims of responsibility. This time it cannot be confirmed, but because this newspaper has in the past proven to be reasonably reliable when it comes to claims of responsibility by al Qaeda, it's certainly giving a level of credence to many people here that al Qaeda was responsible.
The Saudi government has said all along that it believed al Qaeda was responsible for the attacks, and it also said that it believes that more attacks are imminent. They say at least one attack could come at any time. Security here in Riyadh, the rest of Saudi Arabia, and in particular the holy city of Mecca, is still very tight.
Nic Robertson, CNN, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
(END VIDEOTAPE) COSTELLO: And Nic Robertson will join us live from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia with the latest on the attack investigation just about 30 minutes from now.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired November 11, 2003 - 06:01 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Arrests this morning in Riyadh and word of a mistake. We know the Saudis have taken several people into custody, and we know whoever the bombers were may have made a mistake. They meant to target Americans.
Nic Robertson is live in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We now understand from Saudi government sources that several people have been detained subsequent to the attack on Saturday night. Those people and other members of al Qaeda, or at least certainly the Saudi government sources we're talking to, say that they believe those people are members are al Qaeda.
According to these Saudi government sources, these members of al Qaeda, when they've been interrogated, have told their Saudi interrogators that they had believed the compound that they were attacking was a compound that housed Americans and not Arabs. And certainly at this time, this is giving the Saudi government cause, at this stage at least, to believe that perhaps al Qaeda made a mistake in its targeting -- targeting Arabs rather than Americans, at least this is something that the Saudi government is giving very strong consideration to at this time.
We also understand today that al Qaeda has had a message of responsibility published in a political magazine here -- that political magazine owned by a senior member of the Saudi royal family. This magazine has in the past printed such claims of responsibility by al Qaeda. It has in the past generally proven to be reliable inasmuch as these claims initially published there have been followed up on Web sites that al Qaeda used as these claims of responsibility. This time it cannot be confirmed, but because this newspaper has in the past proven to be reasonably reliable when it comes to claims of responsibility by al Qaeda, it's certainly giving a level of credence to many people here that al Qaeda was responsible.
The Saudi government has said all along that it believed al Qaeda was responsible for the attacks, and it also said that it believes that more attacks are imminent. They say at least one attack could come at any time. Security here in Riyadh, the rest of Saudi Arabia, and in particular the holy city of Mecca, is still very tight.
Nic Robertson, CNN, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
(END VIDEOTAPE) COSTELLO: And Nic Robertson will join us live from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia with the latest on the attack investigation just about 30 minutes from now.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
