RIYADH - A senior Saudi official denied on Wednesday that unmanned US military aircraft were searching for members of the al-Qaeda terror network in the Empty Quarter, a sprawling desert in the kingdom.
"We would not allow anyone to track down (al-Qaeda militants) inside Saudi territory because this is a matter of sovereignty," the official said on condition of anonymity.
"Any infiltrators who cross the border from Yemen and into al-Rub al-Khali (Empty Quarter) are tracked down by Saudi security forces," he said, commenting on a New York Times report.
Moreover, it is doubtful that any Yemeni official would have spoken to the Times about such an issue, the official added.
The US daily reported earlier Wednesday that US pilotless drones were searching the Empty Quarter, where al-Qaeda members fleeing a global dragnet are believed to be hiding.
The members of the group behind the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States are thought to move between Yemen and the Saudi desert where they seek refuge among the Bedouins, nomadic tribes in the area, it said, quoting Yemeni officials.
"They are moving around in a pickup truck with a simple tent on the top and probably a Bedouin who knows the Rub al-Khali like you know the palm of your hand," the Times quoted Abdul Karim al-Iryani, an adviser to the Yemeni president, as saying.
"That is how they have been avoiding the government and your US drones," Iryani reportedly said.
The drones, it is hoped, will detect al-Qaeda operatives moving in sufficient number to be tracked. So far they have had no success.
"They are basically looking for movement within the desert, unusual movement, of cars and so forth," Yemeni Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Qurbi was quoted as saying.
"They are moving in a highly underpopulated area of the country. It's mostly desert and mountains."
According to the Times, the Yemeni officials said the fugitives were wanted for terrorist operations in Yemen, including the October 2000 bombing of the US destroyer Cole, and some may have fled to the region from Afghanistan.
They are believed to be living in Yemen but heading north into Saudi Arabia when they need to collect money from their supporters, the officials added.
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