Saudi Arabia holding main suspect in 1996 Khobar bombing

[Al Bhatti]

August 26, 2015

Main suspect in the 1996 bombing of the Khobar Towers residence at a US military base in Saudi Arabia has been captured after nearly 20 years on the run

Saudi Arabia holding main suspect in 1996 Khobar bombing, newspaper says
Saudi Arabia and the US have accused Iran of orchestrating the truck-bomb attack

The main suspect in the 1996 bombing of the Khobar Towers residence at a US military base in Saudi Arabia has been captured after nearly 20 years on the run, a Saudi-owned newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Asharq Al Awsat said Ahmad Al Mughassil, leader of the Hezbollah Al Hejaz who had been indicted by a US court for the attack that killed 19 US service personnel and wounded almost 500 people, had been captured in the Lebanese capital Beirut and transferred to Riyadh.

Saudi authorities were not immediately available to comment.

Saudi Arabia and the United States have accused Iran of orchestrating the truck-bomb attack. Iran has denied any responsibility for the attack.

Asharq Al Awsat quoted official Saudi sources as saying Saudi security personnel had received information about the presence of 48-year-old Mughassil in Beirut.

“The discovery of Mughassil and his arrest in Lebanon and his subsequent transfer to Saudi Arabia is a qualitative achievement, for the man had been in disguise in a way that made it hard to identify him,” Asharq Al Awsat said, without elaborating on when he was captured and who captured him.

The daily said that Saudi Arabia had asked Iran since 1997 to hand Al Mughassil over despite reports that he had died. The Saudis also wanted three other suspects linked to the Khobar Towers blast, Saeed Bin Ali Al Hoori, 40, Ebrahim Saleh Mohammad Al Yaqoob and Abdul Kareem Hussain Mohammad Al Nasser.

Saudi Arabia never accused Iran officially of being behind the blast and reports said that Riyadh resisted heavy pressure from Washington to blame Tehran for the deadly attack.

In 2006, a US federal judge ordered Iran to pay $254 million to the families of 17 US service personnel killed in the attack in a judgement entered against the Iranian government, its security ministry and the Revolutionary Guards after they failed to respond to a lawsuit initiated more than four years earlier.

The 209-page ruling had found that the truck bomb involved in the attack was assembled at a base in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley operated by Hezbollah and the Revolutionary Guards, and the attack was approved by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Saudi Arabia holding main suspect in 1996 Khobar bombing, newspaper says | GulfNews.com

 

[KTOOOOM]

you can run but not forever we will see what he is gonna say

 

[mpk1988]

I was there in Khobar then. Not exactly Khobar but Thuqbah. Felt like a mini earthquake. Went to see the huge crater the next day. Still remember it. Was around 8-9 then.

 

[Full Moon]

A slave of the Persians was caught eventually.

Now let them help you. This 1996 bombing was orgnized by Quds forces of the IRGC. This terrorist is Shia from Qatif who was unfortunately brainwashed and enslaved by the Persians to do his mission.

 

[Hack-Hook]

Funny a truck packed with explosive in lebanon then shipped to ksa wuthout anybody detect anything.

As if it was only 20 to 30 kilogram of explosives. How funny some people are.

A slave of the Persians was caught eventually.

Now let them help you. This 1996 bombing was orgnized by Quds forces of the IRGC. This terrorist is Shia from Qatif who was unfortunately brainwashed and enslaved by the Persians to do his mission.

Its your citizens . That did it whatever you want to say.

 

[Serpentine]

A slave of the Persians was caught eventually.

Now let them help you. This 1996 bombing was orgnized by Quds forces of the IRGC. This terrorist is Shia from Qatif who was unfortunately brainwashed and enslaved by the Persians to do his mission.

Can you prove that he did it? And more importantly, that he was connected to Iran? Just prove it please.

It's a habit of Arab dictatorships to blame Iran for most of their incompetence and failures, nothing new.

 

[Hindustani78]

The main suspect in the 1996 bombing of the Khobar Towers residence at a U.S. military base in Saudi Arabia has been captured after nearly 20 years on the run, a Saudi-owned newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Asharq al-Awsat said Ahmed al-Mughassil, leader of the Hezbollah al-Hejaz who had been indicted by a U.S. court for the attack that killed 19 U.S. service personnel and wounded almost 500 people, had been captured in the Lebanese capital Beirut and transferred to Riyadh.

Saudi authorities said they were looking into the report but did not provide further information.

A Lebanese security source said that Mughassil, a Saudi national, had been detained in Lebanon and transferred to Saudi Arabia around two weeks ago and that he was considered by Riyadh as the top suspect in the case.

Saudi Arabia and the United States have accused Iran of orchestrating the truck-bomb attack. Iran has denied any responsibility for the attack.

Asharq al-Awsat quoted official Saudi sources as saying Saudi security personnel had received information about the presence of 48-year-old Mughassil in Beirut.

"The discovery of Mughassil and his arrest in Lebanon and his subsequent transfer to Saudi Arabia is a qualitative achievement, for the man had been in disguise in a way that made it hard to identify him," Asharq al-Awsat said, without elaborating on when he was captured and who captured him.

In 2006, a U.S. federal judge ordered Iran to pay $254 million to the families of 17 U.S. service personnel killed in the attack in a judgment entered against the Iranian government, its security ministry and the Revolutionary Guards after they failed to respond to a lawsuit initiated more than four years earlier.

The 209-page ruling had found that the truck bomb involved in the attack was assembled at a base in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley operated by Hezbollah and the Revolutionary Guards, and the attack was approved by Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

(Reporting by Sami Aboudi; Editing by Janet Lawrence)

 

[Al Bhatti]

An article in an Arabic language Kuwaiti newspaper. Requesting non-Arabic speakers to use Google translate.

------------------

| كتب ربيع كلاس |

27 أغسطس 2015

هل ضحّت إيران بقائد «حزب الله - الحجاز»؟
«الراي» تكشف تفاصيل مثيرة عن توقيفه... (SMS) أوقع به في مطار بيروت لحظة وصوله للمشاركة في زفاف نجله

هل وقع قائد «حزب الله - الحجاز» أحمد المغسل في المصيدة أم أوقع به؟ كيف سقط أحد أخطر المطلوبين وأكثرهم تخفياً بعد نحو 19 عاماً من التواري كأنه «الشبح»؟ ما اللغز الذي كشف هذا الرجل الذي يتصدّر قائمة الإرهاب الدولية لاتهامه مع آخرين بقتل 19 عسكرياً أميركياً وجرْح 372 آخرين في التفجير الهائل في
الخُبر السعودية العام 1996؟

ما سرّ الـ
«sms»
التي تلقتها بيروت عن وصول هذا الصيد الثمين الذي خصصت الولايات المتحدة مكافأة مالية من خمسة ملايين دولار لمن يسهل القبض عليه؟... والأهمّ هل بدأ تسديد «فواتير» على صلة بالاتفاق النووي بين ايران والولايات المتحدة ومعها دول الغرب فرُفع الغطاء عن السعودي ابن القطيف البالغ من العمر 48 عاماً؟

مصادر ديبلوماسية وأمنية كشفت لـ«الراي» معلومات مثيرة ترتبط بإلقاء القبض على أحمد إبرهيم المغسل في بيروت قبل فترة تراوح بين أسبوعين وثلاثة، مشيرة الى ان طرف الخيط في العملية كان تلقّي أحد الأجهزة الأمنية اللبنانية وبالـ
«sms»
معلومة تشير وبالاسم الى ان مطلوباً خطراً على أهبة الوصول الى مطار رفيق الحريري الدولي يحمل جواز سفر إيرانياً وباسم إيراني وعلى متن طائرة إيرانية.

وأشارت المصادر الى ان الجهاز الأمني اللبناني المعني بدا للوهلة الأولى متحسباً وهو في طريقه لملاقاة «هدف إيراني» في مطار بيروت الذي يخضع لوهج نفوذ إحدى القوى الموالية لإيران، لكن هذا الجهاز فوجئ بسلاسة العملية التي تُوجت بإلقاء القبض على المغسل بعد تطويق الطائرة التي كان على متنها أحد الوفود الآتية من طهران.

ولم يكن الجهاز الأمني اللبناني يعلم الهوية الحقيقية للموقوف إلا بعدما أصبح في قبضته وبناء على
«sms»
آخر أفشى اسم الصيد الثمين. وبحسب المصادر فإن الجهاز اللبناني أخضع احمد المغسل لفحص
D.N.A
بعدما أخذ عيّنة منه أُرسلت الى السعودية على عجل حيث جرت مطابقتها مع أفراد من عائلته لتُحسم هويته، فتم التأكد من انه هو نفسه الرجل المطارَد منذ 19 عاماً.

وكشفت المصادر عيْنها عن ان المغسل كان آتياً من إيران الى لبنان لحضور زفاف نجله كون عائلته تقيم في احدى ضواحي بيروت فأُفشي سره ووقع في الفخّ، موضحة ان ترتيبات أمنية وقانونية اتُخذت لتسهيل عملية تسليم هذا الرجل الأخطر على لائحة الإرهاب الدولية الى المملكة العربية السعودية بعدما أُخضع لتحقيقات في بيروت.

وعلمت «الراي» ان سلاسة إخراج المغسل من مطار بيروت وتسليمه لسلطات بلاده كانت شبيهة بسلاسة توقيفه، رغم ان السلطات اللبنانية كانت فكّرت في اكثر من سيناريو لترحيله الذي تمّ عبر المطار من دون اي معوقات كان يجري التحسب لها.

وتلقفت مصادر ديبلوماسية ملابسات القبض على المغسل للايحاء بأن مثل هذا التطور ما كان يمكن ان يحدث لو لم تكن ايران ترغب به، مما يؤشر الى انه تمت التضحية بهذه الورقة في سياق مفاعيل الاتفاق النووي، وربما كبادرة حسن نية من طهران يمكن ان يصرفها الرئيس الاميركي باراك اوباما في معركة إمرار الاتفاق النووي في الكونغرس الشهر المقبل.

وتكمن أهمية «تسليم» المغسل كونه المشتبه به الرئيسي في تفجيرات أبراج الخبر في يونيو 1996 حين وقع هجوم استهدف مجمعاً سكنياً كان يقطنه عسكريون من أفراد سلاح الجو الأميركي، ما أسفر عن مقتل 19 عسكرياً، وجرح نحو 500 آخرين من جنسيات متعدّدة بالإضافة إلى انهيار جزئي للمبنى السكني.

ووجّهت الولايات المتحدة والسعودية اتهامات إلى إيران بالتخطيط للهجوم الذي وقع بصهريج مفخخ غير أن إيران نفت مسؤوليتها عنه. علماً ان واشنطن طالبت طهران بدفع 254 مليون دولار تعويضا لأهالي الضحايا.

ويذكر أن المغسل مطلوب أيضاً لدى مكتب التحقيقات الفيديرالي الأميركي
«FBI»
إذ إنه مسجل باعتباره واحداً من أبرز الإرهابيين المطلوب القبض عليهم.​

هل ضحّت إيران بقائد «حزب الله - الحجاز»؟ | خارجيات | جريدة الراي الكويتية

-------------------------------------------------


August 27, 2015

SMS tips led to Khobar bomber arrest
Al Mughassil was in Beirut to attend son’s wedding

Ahmad Al Mughassil, the leader of Hezbollah Al Hejaz and the main suspect in the bombing of Khobar Towers in 1996, was arrested in Beirut after the Lebanese security received an anonymous tip, a Kuwaiti daily said.

Quoting diplomatic and security sources it did not name, the daily said the arrest occurred two to three weeks ago and that the operation was triggered by an SMS sent to the Lebanese security forces.

The message said that a high-value dangerous wanted man was about to land at Rafik Hariri airport in the Lebanese capital. The message said the suspect was travelling under an Iranian name and with an Iranian passport on board of an Iranian plane, Al Rai reported on Thursday.

The security agency officers were intrigued, particularly that the airport was under the influence of Hezbollah, a party that was a strong ally of Iran.

However, the operation went smoothly and Al Mughassil was arrested as officers stood around the plane carrying an Iranian delegation from Tehran, Al Rai said.

The security agency was not aware of the true identity of the suspect they had arrested until a second SMS revealed it.

The sources told the daily that DNA samples of Al Mughassil were compared with those of his family back in Saudi Arabia and that the results confirmed his identity. He was then quizzed while legal and security arrangements were taken to ease his extradition to Saudi Arabia where he was wanted for masterminding the blast that killed 19 US service personnel and wounded almost 500 people.

According to the sources, 48-year-old Al Mughassil was traveling to Lebanon to attend the wedding of his son in Beirut where the family was residing.

His extradition was as smooth as his arrest, prompting speculation there was an agreement to ensure the operations were not disrupted or stalled in any way, the daily said.

Saudi-owned Al Sharq Al Awsat newspaper, which first reported the story, said that Al Mughassil was arrested after Saudi authorities identified his whereabouts in Lebanon.

A Saudi official said that Al Mughassil was detained two weeks ago after arriving in Beirut from Iran. He allegedly tried to seek cover in a southern Beirut neighborhood that is a stronghold of Lebanon’s Hezbollah. The security official said Saudi intelligence believes that four others wanted in the bombing are living in Iran.

The Saudi and US officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to publicly discuss the matter.

Saudi Arabia has never directly blamed Iran - its regional rival - for the attack, and Iran has repeatedly denied being involved.

US State Department spokesman John Kirby declined to comment on the capture but said: “The United States continues to stand with the victims and families harmed by this attack, and we’re going to continue working with Saudi Arabia and the international community to bring to justice all the perpetrators of it.”

The US Justice Department also declined to comment.

In the attack, militants parked a fuel tanker truck just outside the shallow perimeter of the apartment complex, 85 feet from one of the dormitories. The blast tore the face off one side of the building, leaving a massive crater.

The US later moved its Air Force contingent to a compound in a remote stretch of desert south of Riyadh before withdrawing its troops from the kingdom in 2003.

SMS tips led to Khobar bomber arrest | GulfNews.com

 

[jammersat]

Congratulations saudi arabia , you just set a new world record

 

[Hussein]

nice story bros
next step : you ask someone to make hollywood movie out of your bullshit propaganda

anyway you don't need to create such story: everything fault of Iran
it is what you always repeat and repeat to Americans to bomb us

and these guys say they are muslims ... damned

 

[Saif al-Arab]

The Khobar Towers bombing was a terrorist attack on part of a housing complex in the city of Khobar, Saudi Arabia, located near the national oil company (Saudi Aramco) headquarters of Dhahran on June 25, 1996. At that time Khobar Towers was being used as quarters for foreign military personnel.

A truck-bomb was detonated adjacent to Building #131, an eight-story structure housing United States Air Forcepersonnel from the 4404th Wing (Provisional), primarily from a deployed rescue squadron and deployed fighter squadron. In all, 19 U.S. servicemen were killed and 498[1] of many nationalities were wounded. Although al-Qaeda has been described by some sources as the likely culprit, the official June 25, 1996 statement by the United States named members of Hezbollah Al-Hejaz (English: Party of God in the Hijaz)[2][3] as responsible. In 2006, a U.S. court found Iran and Hezbollah guilty of orchestrating the attack.[4]

All the casualties were US servicemen.

I wonder if we are going to trust the US administration, an independent US court, Saudi Arabia's government, numerous intelligence services or some random farsi Mullah supporter on a Pakistan forum? Let alone the Mullah regime of Iran?

In all, 19 airmen from the U.S. Air Force were killed:

1. Captain Christopher Adams
2. Captain Leland Haun
3. Master Sergeant Michael G. Heiser
4. Master Sergeant Kendall K. Kitson
5. Technical Sergeant Daniel B. Cafourek
6. Technical Sergeant Patrick P. Fennig
7. Technical Sergeant Thanh V. Nguyen
8. Staff Sergeant Ronald King
9. Staff Sergeant Kevin Johnson
10. Sergeant Millard D. Campbell
11. Senior Airman Earl R. Cartrette Jr
12. Senior Airman Jeremy A. Taylor
13. Airman 1st Class Christopher Lester
14. Airman 1st Class Brent E. Marthaler
15. Airman 1st Class Brian W. McVeigh
16. Airman 1st Class Peter W. Morgera
17. Airman 1st Class Joseph E. Rimkus
18. Airman 1st Class Justin Wood
19. Airman 1st Class Joshua E. Woody

Khobar Towers bombing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Yet another good job by the intelligence service. The terrorist should definitely be given the death penalty and all of those involved.

The sword awaits him.