Al Qaida threatens Riyadh over executions

Terror group says it will take revenge on Saudi Arabia’s soldiers

Al Qaida’s affiliate in Yemen threatened the Saudi government over its plan to carry out a mass execution of prisoners, including Al Qaida members, the militant group announced in a statement posted on social media.

Al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, one of the deadliest branches of the global militant network, said it was aware of Saudi intentions to execute its members in Saudi prisons and pledged to carry out attacks in response.

Twitter posting

“We swear to God, our blood will be shed before the blood of our captives, and their pure blood will not dry before we shed the blood of the soldiers of Al Saud,” the group said in a statement which was posted on Twitter and dated yesterday.

Local media reported last week that Saudi authorities planned to execute more than 50 people convicted of “terrorist crimes”.

Earlier instances

The only people executed for Al Qaida attacks in the kingdom, which killed hundreds in the last decade, were two men from Chad earlier this year.

Saudi Arabia has executed at least 151 people this year, according to Amnesty International, many of them foreigners convicted of drug-related crimes.