The international police organization Interpol said on Tuesday it had issued an unprecedented global alert for 85 terrorists suspected of planning attacks against Saudi Arabia from abroad, dpa reported.
The 83 Saudis and two Yemenis are wanted by Saudi Arabia on terrorism-related charges, including links to al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Afghanistan, Interpol said in a statement issued in Lyon, where its headquarters are located.
"Never before has Interpol been asked to alert the world about so many dangerous fugitives at one time," the organization's secretary-general, Ronald K. Noble, said.
"We know that we are approaching the 16th anniversary of the first World Trade Center bombing ... and therefore must be especially vigilant of fugitive al-Qaeda terrorists."
Noble said that the suspects represent a security concern not only for Saudi Arabia "but also for the world as a whole."