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Saudi Forces Foil Attacks In Mecca

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 22, 2007

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - Police arrested a group of men planning to attack holy sites around Mecca during the just-completed annual Muslim pilgrimage, the Saudi Interior Ministry said Friday.

"Security forces have foiled a plot to carry out a terror attack on holy sites outside Mecca with the aim of confounding security forces," Interior Ministry spokesman Mansour al-Turki said.

Nearly 3 million pilgrims came to Saudi Arabia for the annual hajj that wound up Friday with a final visit to Mecca after days of rituals in the surrounding hills.

"The group was arrested three days before the hajj season," he added, meaning that the men were taken into custody about a week earlier.

Al-Turki gave no further details on the number or identity of those arrested, but Saudi-owned satellite television station Al-Arabiya described them as Saudis.

Three weeks before the hajj began, the Saudi government announced a massive security sweep that netted 208 suspects who had allegedly plotted to carry out attacks against the kingdom's oil infrastructure.

The Associated Press

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