Saudi Arabia foils Islamic State bomb, foreign spying plots

DUBAI (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia said on Tuesday it foiled an Islamic State plot to bomb its defense ministry headquarters and also said it had arrested several people suspected of carrying out espionage in the kingdom on behalf of foreign powers.

It was not immediately clear whether the two announcements, made separately by a security official to state news agency SPA and a security source speaking to Reuters, were related.

The would-be bombers were identified as two Yemeni nationals living under aliases in the kingdom who were detained along with two Saudi citizens also suspected of involvement in the attack planned for the capital Riyadh, the official from the Presidency of State Security added.

Saudi Arabia has previously been hit by deadly bombing and shooting attacks by Islamic State militants targeting security forces and Shiite Muslims.

The assailants were training in the use of explosive belts, the security source added, while authorities said they seized grenades and firearms during the operation to foil the attack.

Islamic State has for years criticized the leadership of Western-allied Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter, ac- cusing it of deviating from their strict interpretation of Islam and advancing the interests of their US enemies.

In a separate news item, SPA quoted a security source saying authorities uncovered “intelligence activities for the benefit of foreign parties” by a group of people it did not name.

A Saudi security source, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, told Reuters that the suspects were accused of “espionage activities and having contacts with external entities including the Muslim Brotherhood,” which Riyadh has classified as a terrorist organization.