WORLD/NATION The Michigan Daily - Thursday, December 4, 2003 - 5A Saudi police arrest Islamic militant for car bombing Police arrest suspect allegedly responsible for the bombing of a housing compound located in Riyadh RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) - With U.S. and British diplomats warning of possible new terror attacks in Saudi Arabia, police said yesterday they arrested a suspect in a recent suicide car bombing and seized an arsenal - AK- 47 assault rifles, explosives, grenade launchers and a sur- face-to-air missile. The arrest was the first in the bombing of the Muhaya housing compound in the capital Riyadh on Nov. 8, which killed 17 people and wounded more than 120. American and Saudi officials blamed the attack the al-Qaida terrorist network of Osama bin Laden, a Saudi exile. The Saudi Interior Ministry, in charge of the king- dom's police, issued a statement saying the suspected Islamic militant was found hiding with the cache of weapons and "pamphlets inciting terrorist acts." It said Community service I yy , the man was arrested a week ago but that his identity would not be revealed to protect the investigation. "Searches and investigations are continuing to arrest all those related to this terror cell," the statement said. The cache seized with the suspect included a SAM-7 surface-to-air missile capable of downing a plane at low altitude; 20 high explosive hand grenades; 89 elec- trical detonators; blocks of explosives; six booby- trapped mobile phones; three computers; and Saudi currency worth $354,000. The arrest comes with tensions high in the Saudi capital after attacks on foreign housing compounds in May, the November attack. There has also been a renewal in American and British warnings this week of possible new attacks on housing compounds for for- eigners. The U.S. Embassy warning issued Tuesday said one compound in Riyadh has been under "active surveil- lance" by terrorists and that other housing complexes may also be targeted. Spokeswoman Carol Kalin said the embassy had barred its American employees and dependents from visiting housing compounds in the Saudi capital between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. except on official business. Yesterday, an Interior Ministry official criticized the latest U.S. warning as mere speculation. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said such warnings should be issued "in cooperation with Saudi authorities or else they would lead to disor- der and fear within those living in Saudi Arabia." Saudi Arabia has been under pressure to show it is more active in the battle against terrorism since the Sept. 11 attacks, in which 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi citizens. The pressure has increased with the bombings in the Saudi capital since May. The latest attack, in November, shocked many in the Arab world because the complex attacked did not house Westerners but Arabs and other Muslims working in the kingdom. Officials said the attack showed the terrorists would even attack their own people to try to oust the Saudi royal family. In that attack, two assailants - identified later as Saudis - drove a jeep disguised as a police vehicle into the compound and detonated its explosives. The bombing was preceded by warnings of a pending terrorist attack issued by the Australian, British and U.S. embassies in Riyadh. In May, Islamic suicide bombers attacked three com pounds for foreigners in Riyadh, detonating vehicle bombs that killed 35 people including the nine assailants. After the attacks, security forces detained about 600 suspects, of whom nearly 200 were soon released. The attacks generated considerable soul-searching among Saudi intellectuals, with some newspaper columnists saying the strict interpretation of Islam folb lowed in schools and mosques could have contributed to the militancy. The government responded by announcing new guidelines for mosque sermons and promising to allow citizens to vote in municipal elections - a first in a Alleged cannibal maintains victims wanted to be killed LAURA SHLECTER/Daily Radio hosts Greg Carson and Thayrone X from Kool 107 advertise the Food Gatherers food drive, which takes place this week at Busch's Supermarket on Ann Arbor-Saline Road. KASSEL, Germany (AP) - A German computer expert - charged with killing, dismembering and eating the flesh of an Internet acquaintance - made a detailed confession at the opening of his murder trial yesterday. The accused said he was only doing what the victim wanted. Armin Meiwes, 42, who lived in an ancient former manor house in Roten- burg, gave chilling testimony about how his fantasy of finding someone to become "a part of me" turned real. Rotenburg is a central German town about 20 miles southeast of Kassel. Meiwes - a poised, slender man wearing a dark suit and tie in court yesterday - described matter-of-factly how Bernd Juergen Brandes, 43, trav- eled from Berlin to visit him in March 2001 in response to an Internet adver- tisement that was seeking a young man for "slaughter and consumption." Meiwes said his fantasies began as a child, when he felt lonely and imag- ined killing and eating a "younger brother." Meiwes said he got more than 400 responses to his Internet solicitation from people who wanted to join him in acting out the fantasy. He told the state court that he and his victim chatted for several weeks on the Internet. When they met, he said, Brandes undressed. "Now you can see my body. I hope you'll find me tasty," Meiwes quoted his visitor as saying. Bran- des later said he wanted to be stabbed to death after drinking a bottle of cold medicine to lose con- sciousness, Meiwes testified. Meiwes said he stabbed his vic- tim the next morning, believing he was already dead, and recorded his act on a videotape that is being used as evidence. "I kissed him once more, prayed and pleaded for forgiveness," Meiwes told the court. He said he froze some of the dis- membered body parts, eating the flesh over the following months, and buried others in the garden. Police who searched Meiwes' home found human flesh and bones. Court-appointed psychiatrists found Meiwes fit to stand trial. Prosecutors say the killing was sex- ually motivated and filed murder charges, despite concluding that the killing had the victim's consent. Meiwes' attorney argued against mur- der charges, saying the slaying was a form of mercy killing. Meiwes faces life in prison if convicted of murder. "My friend enjoyed the dying, his death;' Meiwes was quoted recently by a local newspaper. Seeking to bolster his claim that he acted according to the wishes of others, Meiwes testified that he had at least five other respondents to his Internet ads at his home but let them go - including a teacher who offered himself as a "devoted pig for slaughter." When Meiwes suspended him from a pulley-and-rope device set up in his home as part of the role playing, the man got sick and left after being freed, Meiwes said. A man who said he wanted to be beheaded also showed up, but Meiwes said he sent him away because he was too fat and not talkative enough. Police tracked down and arrested Meiwes last December after a stu- dent in Austria alerted them to an advertisement Meiwes placed on the Internet seeking a man willing to be killed and eaten. Thirty-eight witnesses are slated to testify in the trial. A verdict is expected in February. "Now you can see my body. 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