File under chickens coming home to roost.

The dozen militants who were arrested elsewhere during the sweeps in Riyadh included Rakan Saikhan, one of the Saudi government’s 26 most wanted terrorist suspects and an alleged conspirator in the attack on the Cole, a Saudi security source said. The Interior Ministry said police also confiscated large caches of weapons, including three rocket grenade launchers, computers and $30,000 in cash.



“Over the course of the last year, Saudi Arabia has taken a number of really important steps,” Snow said. “I am convinced they’re deeply committed and sincere about this effort.”

He said the Saudis are cooperating with U.S. experts “to make sure Saudi Arabia is not a source of terrorist money, that Saudi Arabia takes all the steps they can to close off those flows.”

Snow’s comments appeared to be somewhat at odds with those of Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, who praised Saudi Arabia for cracking down on Muslim militants but said the kingdom can do more to stop the flow of charitable money to terror groups.

“I do think that even greater pressure can be put on Saudi and Saudi officials to go after the financing mechanisms, the support of charities both there and around the world that may be funding some terrorist activity,” Frist, R-Tenn., said on “Fox News Sunday.”

Excuse me if I fail to shed tears or leap in elation over this sudden change of heart on the part of the Saudis.

The Saudis have been good over the last decade at playing both sides against the middle - presenting a face of moderation to the west and at the same time funding Wahabbism, turning a blind eye to the fundamentalist movement within their own borders and vilifying the west to their own people.

Our own hands are not free of blood when it comes to the formation of groups like Al-Qeada (referred to during the Reagan administration as the heroic freedom fighters in Afghanistan) but, before we wring our hands over the abuses of prisoners in an Iraqi prison let’s take a look at the governments and societies in the region who are only to happy to take money for oil simultaneously blaming the people giving them money for the problems in their own societies they fail to address. Also of note is the due process exercised on the part of the Saudi authorities (no messy trials here). Wonder if that will get up the moral indignation of the Arab world on the next broadcast of Al Jazerra?

Saudi Arabia told al Qaeda militants on Sunday it would not allow them to destabilize the kingdom and warned they would share the fate of their slain leader unless they repented.

Undeterred by the death of Abdulaziz al-Muqrin, the leader of al Qaeda in Saudi Arabia, the group vowed renewed “holy war” in the country.