Dubai: A statement claiming to be from al-Qaeda, which was carried on an Islamist website yesterday, vowed to “cleanse the Arabian peninsula of infidels”.

“We renew our determination to repel the crusader forces and their arrogance, to liberate the land of Muslims, to apply Sharia and cleanse the Arabian peninsula of infidels,” said the message on the website http//alsaha.fares.net.

The authenticity of the statement could not be verified. It had been posted after the Saudi Arabia attacks.

It said that the attacks and subsequent hostage-taking had been conducted by “four Mujahidin”, or Islamic fighters. It was signed by the “Al-Qaeda Organisation in the Arabian Peninsula”, headed by Abdul Aziz al-Muqrin, a Saudi. It said that only one of the fighters was killed, and named him as “the hero Nimer bin Suhaj al-Baqmi ”.

But an employee at the residential compound where the hostages were freed by security forces, said that two hostage-takers had been killed and the other two captured during the operation.

Muqrin tops a Saudi list of the most-wanted terrorist suspects, which has been reduced to 18 since it was released amid a massive crackdown on suspected al-Qaeda sympathisers.

“The (other) Mujahidin successfully withdrew from the site (of the attack) despite the strict security measures (by the authorities) toward safety,” the message said.

The Saudi Government made no statement.

The Italian Foreign Ministry confirmed that one of its citizens had been killed, while the Philippines Ambassador to Saudi Arabia said that three Filipinos were killed and three wounded.

The website message said: “Petroleum Centre depends on the American colonial firm Halliburton, cited by Sheikh Osama (bin Laden) in his last message.”

The message also said that the “operation was recorded in audio, parts of which will later be made public.”. (AFP)

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