Counterterrorism Research Library Saudi Arabia Al-Qaida in Saudi Arabia: "Bin Laden and the Oil Weapon"
Al-Qaida in Saudi Arabia: "Bin Laden and the Oil Weapon"
Last Updated (Monday, 29 November 1999 19:00) Written by Evan Kohlmann Saturday, 24 February 2007 19:00
Al-Qaida's Committee in the Arabian Peninsula (Saudi Arabia) has recently released the first new issue of its official magazine, Sawt al-Jihad ("Voice of Jihad"), in nearly two years. Among other subjects, Sawt al-Jihad #30 addresses the aftermath of the Abqaiq (Buqayq) oil refinery attack in early 2006 in an article titled "Bin Laden and the Oil Weapon." The author of the piece mocked the response in Western countries to the Abqaiq attack, insisting, "targeting the region’s oil is not an unusual or new thing... Nevertheless, the enormity of the target and the severity of the shock caused many observers to forget past events and led them to claim that Bin Laden had just begun to target oil [interests], and that this was a strategic shift in Al-Qaida policy!!" The article described oil interests as "an easy target for all the enemies of the United States" and urged terrorist strikes on "petroleum interests in all regions that the United States benefits from, and not only in the Middle East", including targeting "oil production wells, export pipelines, loading platforms, tankers--and anything else that will deprive the United States of oil... disrupt and stifle its economy, and threaten its economic and political future."
