1. Faisal Al–Bugami, head of the Public Relations Department and Education Techniques Center, said that the students had developed new techniques to help pilgrims. «Many of the students have MAs in psychology, which help them deal with pilgrims when they get lost,» he said, adding that since some students can speak English, French and Russian. «This makes it easer for them to communicates with pilgrims of various nationalities,» he said.

2. Fares ibn Huzam, a Saudi political analyst, described the news about the new cells as Stage II of Al–Qaeda’s plans. «It’s different but they’re following the same stylebook,» he said, adding that he estimates that 120 out of the 172 militants arrested are under the age of 24. «These new groups are not as professional as the old organization as they have not received the same training as their predecessors, and that makes it easer to dismantle their cells,» he said, adding that this can be seen by the fact that a large number of people had been arrested by security forces in six months without a single bullet being fired.