Qaeda aims to eliminate Saudi govt officials: US

As the No. 3 official in Saudi Arabia’s Interior Ministry, he is the kingdom’s top counter-terrorism official. Huweirini, who has worked closely with US officials, was wounded in an attack on December 4, US officials said.

Until this year, most major attacks by suspected Qaeda militants in Saudi Arabia have been directed against US or other Western targets.

However, in the past seven months, Al Qaeda militants have carried out a wave of major suicide-bomb attacks in capital Riyadh, killing at least 50 people. But they have also been punished by a security crackdown in which hundreds of militants have been arrested and dozens killed. ‘‘The Saudis have done a good job of taking down a lot of their leadership,’’ a senior US official said. ‘‘But they continue to be very dangerous and to go after royal family related targets.’’

On Sunday, the British government warned that a terrorist attack could be in the final stages of preparation in Saudi Arabia. That warning amplified others issued this month by the United States.(NYT)