US, Saudi intelligence penetrate al-Qaeda core

Washington, May 10: Unable to do so in tribal tracts in Pakistan, US and Saudi intelligence agencies have successfully penetrated

network in the Arabian Peninsula and this helped American agencies to disrupt three major terror plots to explode passenger planes.

The Saudi intelligence has emerged as a major ally of the US against al-Qaeda, with the collaboration appearing to have intensified over the past two years, the New York Times reported today.

The new collaboration comes despite a long history of mistrust rooted in the role of Saudi hijackers in the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Centre.

The crucial testing ground for the new partnership is Yemen where the al-Qaeda continues to plan attacks against Western targets even after the killing of its chief ideologue Anwar al-Maliki, an American-born firebrand cleric, in a drone strike in the Yemeni desert last September.

Quoting Western intelligence sources, the paper said that the Saudi-US partnership appears to be a big success as even Middle-Eastern intelligence agencies have been unable to recruit agent within al-Qaeda affiliates, let alone within the tight-knit central core of the group.

The officials said the case of the would-be 'underwear bomber' appears to be a textbook example of success, run with the Saudi allies.

The NYT quoting a senior American intelligence official said Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef Ibn Abdul Aziz oversaw the recent operations to use the Saudi informant to thwart the latest airliner plot.

PTI