Khobar Towers bombing mastermind arrested in Beirut, transferred to Riyadh: Saudi officials

[Valin]

Asharq Al Awsat :

Aug 26 2015

 

Dammam, Asharq Al-Awsat—The mastermind of the 1996 bombing in eastern Saudi Arabia that killed and injured hundreds of US service personnel has been arrested, Saudi security officials told Asharq Al-Awsat on Tuesday. Ahmed Al-Mughassil has been arrested in the Lebanese capital Beirut and repatriated to his home country, Saudi Arabia, after 19 years on the run.

 

“The operation was carried out in coordination with the concerned bodies,” the Saudi security source who spoke on the condition of anonymity said, without elaborating on what role the Lebanese authorities had in Mughassil’s arrest and subsequent transferal.

Mughassil is believed to be the leader of the Iran-allied Hezbollah Al-Hejaz group who had been indicted by a US court for the 1996 bombing that killed 19 US airmen and injured around 500 others at the Khobar Towers apartment complex near a US military base in eastern Saudi Arabia.

 

The Saudi security, according to the source, received confirmed information that Mughassil, 48, was living in disguise in Beirut. For 19 years, Saudi authorities hunted down Mughassil who is also wanted by the FBI who had offered a five million US dollar reward for his capture.

 

(Snip)