Saudi Arabia to Try 90 as Al Qaeda Members

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia —  Ninety Saudi citizens will be put on trial on charges of belonging to Al Qaeda, the nation’s interior minister said in comments reported Tuesday.

“There is evidence that these 90 people belong to this organization, and their cases have been sent to court,” the Tuesday edition of the newspaper Okaz quoted Prince Nayif ibn Abdulaziz, the interior minister, as saying.

He said that 250 other people were still being interrogated and that 150 had been released after questioning. He gave no details of the exact charges being brought against those detained or how long they had been held.

Saudi authorities have repeatedly denied accusations by U.S. lawmakers that they have dragged their feet in the hunt for Islamic militants and that the country’s educational and religious systems breed militancy.

Al Qaeda, led by Saudi-born Osama bin Laden, was responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks, and 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudis. Nayif said Al Qaeda does not have a major presence in Saudi Arabia but added that small groups of youths support it.