Saudis: Bombing suspects questioned
Saudi officials convinced al Qaeda now targeting Muslims
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Lebanese citizen Sohal al Halabi, 25, untangles cables in his bomb-damaged apartment in Riyadh.
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CNN's Nic Robertson on the Saudis' arrest of bombing suspects.
CNN's David Ensor on the possibility that the latest terror attack could backfire on al Qaeda.
CNN's Mimi Mees on how analysts say the Saudi government is now targeted by an Islamist movement it once supported.
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RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (CNN) -- Saudi government officials were questioning several people Tuesday who may be implicated in Saturday's terrorist car bombing that killed 17 people and wounded 122, a Saudi government spokesman said.
The spokesman did not say when the arrests were made or how many were taken into custody.
The U.S. State Department said it believes Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network was behind Saturday's attack in the capital, Riyadh. Saudi officials also blame the bombing on the group.
The London-based weekly Al-Majalla said Tuesday it received an e-mail in which al Qaeda claimed responsibility. In the past, such claims sent to the newspaper have been followed up on a Web site experts say is run by al Qaeda, but not this time.
Al Qaeda has long opposed the Saudi royal family and has repeatedly called on Muslims to reject Saudi leadership.
According to Saudi government sources, one of the people in custody told investigators that al Qaeda mistakenly thought its target Saturday was a neighborhood housing Americans. The area actually was mostly Arab.
Two Saudi officials rejected that suggestion.
"If their intent is to kill Americans, it doesn't answer the question as why are they involved in activities in Mecca," said Saudi government spokesman Nail Al-Jubeir.
"Why do they have bomb factories in the holy city of Mecca that only Muslims go to? Why do they have traps in Mecca?"
Al-Jubeir said the attack was not meant as a "symbolic attack" against the royal family: "Their target is humanity."
Adel Al-Jubeir, adviser to Crown Prince Abdullah, said he is convinced al Qaeda was purposely attacking fellow Muslims.
He insisted his country has been working to crack down on the terrorist network for years -- even before the attacks in May.
"Al Qaeda is a demonic cult," he said. "It is pure evil."
The group looks for justification in causes, Adel Al-Jubeir said, citing al Qaeda's complaints about the Soviet presence in Afghanistan in the 1980s, the U.S. military presence in Saudi Arabia in the 1990s, and its recent talk about Palestinians and Iraqis.
"I wouldn't be surprised if they take up the cause of saving the whales," he said.
"They will not succeed," Adel Al-Jubeir said. "They don't have the legitimacy. They don't have the popular support. They don't have the resources. We intend to confront them, we intend to crush them, and we intend to rid our country of this evil."
Bin Laden, he said, "wants us to turn off the electricity. He wants us to cut relations with every country in the world. He wants us to go back to live in cages. It's not going to happen."
On Monday, King Fahd pledged he would strike militants with an "iron fist" in the wake of the bombing.
Fahd also told his Cabinet he wants to make sure it is safe for people to travel to Mecca, Islam's holiest city, during the current Muslim holy month of Ramadan, sources said. (Full story)
Sources said they expect at least one more attack. In response, Saudi security officials tightened security at diplomatic compounds and other sensitive sites and sent 4,600 troops to Mecca, sources said.
Saudi government sources said one car blew up in the attack. They suspect a second vehicle was used, although that was still under investigation. Witnesses reported hearing multiple explosions.
Nail Al-Jubeir said Saudi authorities have rounded up hundreds of terrorists since triple car bombings killed 23 people plus 12 bombers at three complexes housing Westerners in Riyadh in May. He also said Saudi Arabia has fired 2,000 imams for spreading hate.
A nurse changes the dressings on the back of Lebanese computer engineer Nehme Mouchantaf, injured in the weekend bombing.
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"What we are looking at is a group of people that are committed to overthrow the Saudi state, to create an Afghan-type Taliban rule in Saudi Arabia," Nail Al-Jubeir said. "We're not going to have them succeed."
The bombing came a day after the United States ordered its embassy and consulates in the kingdom temporarily closed because of concerns that terrorists may be planning to launch additional attacks.
On Monday, two senior U.S. State Department officials said the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum, Sudan, would be closed through the week because of an unspecified threat. (Full story)
CNN's Nic Robertson, Mike Boettcher, Henry Schuster and Elise Labott contributed to this report.
