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Sources: Saudis arrest al Qaeda suspects

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (CNN) -- Saudi authorities have arrested 13 people linked to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda terrorist network, including several tied to a failed attempt to shoot down a U.S. military jet, sources in the Saudi Interior Ministry said Tuesday.

The individuals were plotting other missile and bomb attacks, the sources said.

The arrests were made over several months and included two groups who were planning attacks using explosive materials and two shoulder-fired missiles that were smuggled into Saudi Arabia, according to the sources.

Six Saudi nationals and one Sudanese were involved in the unsuccessful effort last month to shoot down a U.S. warplane with a shoulder-fired missile at the Prince Sultan Air Base, the sources said.

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U.S. officials said most of the arrests were made over a period of months, but the Sudanese accused of firing one of the missiles at the U.S. jet was taken into Saudi custody in recent days. U.S. officials told CNN last week that Sudan had picked up the suspect. Sudan handed him over to Saudis, the sources said.

The botched missile attack was uncovered when the launching mechanism for the missile was found in the desert outside the air base, which is used by American fighter jets patrolling the no-fly zone over southern Iraq.

The Sudanese suspect and the six Saudis who helped him also buried another missile in the desert outside Riyadh.

The Interior Ministry sources said the Sudanese was aided by a second group of five Saudis and one Iraqi. They were also arrested. The second group helped the Sudanese hide and helped him flee the kingdom, the sources said.

The sources said the Sudanese was directly linked to al Qaeda and had fought in Afghanistan.

CNN Correspondent David Ensor and Producer Rym Brahimi contributed to this report