The mastermind of the attack on the 'Khobar' base in Saudi Arabia arrested after 20 years

The Arabic-language newspaper 'Asharq Al-Awsat' reported on Wednesday, September 4, the arrest of the mastermind behind the bombing at the 'Khobar' base in Saudi Arabia after 20 years. Asharq Al-Awsat, which is close to Saudi Arabia, reported that Ahmad Ibrahim al-Mughassil, the leader of Hezbollah al-Hijaz, was wanted for killing 19 Americans and injuring 500 others in the bombing of the eight-story Khobar building in Dhahran, which occurred in June 1996. The Khobar complex housed American, British, French, and Saudi forces near the King Abdulaziz military base. The newspaper's report indicated that al-Mughassil was arrested in Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, and transferred to Saudi Arabia. According to Reuters, Saudi officials have not commented on this news. After the bombing at the mentioned American base, Saudi Arabia and the United States pointed fingers at Iran, but Tehran officials denied any involvement in the explosion. Asharq Al-Awsat, citing Saudi sources, wrote that the country's security forces obtained information about the presence of the 48-year-old al-Mughassil in Beirut. The newspaper added, without mentioning the time of the suspect's arrest, that 'finding al-Mughassil and arresting him in Lebanon and then transferring him to Saudi Arabia is a significant achievement, especially since he had changed his appearance to avoid identification.' A U.S. federal court in 2006 ordered Iran to pay $254 million to the families of 17 victims of the bombing, accusing it of being involved in the explosion. The 209-page indictment from this U.S. court mentioned that the bomb-laden truck used in the Khobar explosion was equipped at a military base in the Bekaa Valley, which is controlled by Hezbollah and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and that the attack was authorized by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic. The FBI had set a reward of $5 million for any information leading to the arrest of al-Mughassil.