For obvious reasons the Saudis are more willing to work with the United States secretly than in public. The United States, however, needs public indications of support backed by effective action to bolster the domestic American opinion of the Saudis - which is not particularly positive right now - and to generate the sense that the Saudis are part of an effective operating coalition.
While the Americans need the Saudis to give them something public, Riyadh cannot do so unless it can also demonstrate its independence. Thus we have the virtually hand-in-hand announcements of al Qaeda operatives captured and Afghan combatants released.
That explains the why but not the reason making the announcement now. Apart from the general pressure being applied by the United States, an interesting incident occurred in Egypt late last week: Security forces arrested Salah Hashem, a co-founder of the radical Al-Gama'a al-Islamiya Islamic organization, which is blamed for the massacre of tourists at Luxor, Egypt, in 1997.
Hashem has been considered a moderate in Al-Gama'a and supports a cease-fire agreement between the group and the government. Speculation surrounding his arrest did not necessarily imply that he was a threat, only that he knew a great deal about close links between Al-Gama'a and al Qaeda. Many of al Qaeda's members are Egyptians who were originally Al-Gama'a members.
While the Americans need the Saudis to give them something public, Riyadh cannot do so unless it can also demonstrate its independence. Thus we have the virtually hand-in-hand announcements of al Qaeda operatives captured and Afghan combatants released.
That explains the why but not the reason making the announcement now. Apart from the general pressure being applied by the United States, an interesting incident occurred in Egypt late last week: Security forces arrested Salah Hashem, a co-founder of the radical Al-Gama'a al-Islamiya Islamic organization, which is blamed for the massacre of tourists at Luxor, Egypt, in 1997.
Hashem has been considered a moderate in Al-Gama'a and supports a cease-fire agreement between the group and the government. Speculation surrounding his arrest did not necessarily imply that he was a threat, only that he knew a great deal about close links between Al-Gama'a and al Qaeda. Many of al Qaeda's members are Egyptians who were originally Al-Gama'a members.