Saudi interior minister, Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz, on Sunday announced the arrest of three western men, one British, a Canadian and a Belgian, for two anti-British attacks last November in Riyadh, said press reports.
The three men, who were shown on TV separately sitting behind a desk, appeared nervous as they told of their roles in the car bombings in the Saudi capital Riyadh in November, said the Gulf News.
On November 17, Briton Christopher Rodway, 47, was killed and his wife, Jane, 50, was slightly injured when their car was blown up, in what police say appeared to be a booby trap, in central Riyadh.
Less than a week later, two Britons and an Irish woman were wounded, two just slightly, when their car exploded November 22 in Riyadh.
A man who identified himself as Alexander Mitchell, a Briton, said he and the Canadian man, William Sampson, carried out the bombing which killed Rodway and injured his wife, said the daily.
"I confirm and confess that I received orders to carry out the bombing here in Riyadh on November 17 against Christopher Rodway, a British citizen. William Sampson, a Canadian, helped me carry out the bombing," Mitchell said according to an Arabic voiceover of his remarks, added the daily.
Mitchell said he was involved together with Sampson and the Belgian man, whose name was unclear in the Arabic translation, in the second car bombing on November 22.
The Belgian said he was only involved in the second bombing after he overheard Mitchell and Sampson discuss the first blast.
The men described how they planted the explosives in the two cars and used remote control devices to detonate them. Both Mitchell and the Belgian said they worked at Saudi military hospitals.
Sampson said he worked as a marketing consultant at the Saudi Industrial Development Fund, according to the daily.
"I would like to assert that the source of the explosives and many other facts are known to us but for the interest of the investigation we decided not to reveal that now," Prince Nayef said.
The minister, however, did not mention a third bombing in December in eastern Saudi Arabia in which a Scotsman was blinded in one eye.
Britain has announced the arrest of five of its citizens in Saudi Arabia for what diplomats said was believed to be alcohol-related offences.
Saudi Arabia had announced the arrest of several people, including an American, a Belgian and a Lebanese man.
Prince Nayef said nine other people "from different nationalities" were under arrest for "illegal" activities and were still being investigated, the daily added.
He said that "Saudi citizens were not involved." -- Albawaba.com
