( dpa )- The Saudi Interior Ministry urged both Saudis and foreigners to ring a special hotline alerting the authorities if they received an audio message purportedly from al-Qaeda second-in- command, Ayman al- Zawahri , asking followers to raise money for needy families, the Dubai-based al- Arabiya news broadcaster reported Sunday.
Saudi security forces found al- Zawahri's message on the memory card of a cell phone of one of the 28 terror suspects who, the authorities announced on March 3, were arrested in security sweeps across the country.
The ministry gave people a week from Sunday to report the message and warned that action would be taken against those who would not report such cases within the set deadline.
Investigations had indicated that Saudi and foreign nationals in the kingdom received al- Zawahri's message, the ministry statement said Saturday.
The kingdom has launched a crackdown on al-Qaeda followers since a wave of terrorists attacks targeting foreigners and Saudi security forces in 2003.