ANALYSIS-Saudi attack evokes fears of Yemen-based militancy

BEIRUT, Aug 29 (Reuters) - An attempt to assassinate Saudi Arabia's security chief, who is a prominent member of the royal family, appears to mark a new tactic by an al Qaeda network that is exploiting worsening instability in neighbouring Yemen.A suicide bomber posing as a repentant militant failed to kill Prince Mohammed bin Nayef at his Jeddah office on Thursday in the first known attack on a Saudi royal since al Qaeda began a bloody campaign in the world's top oil exporter in 2003."If it had been successful, it would have been an incredibly significant propaganda victory for al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP)," said Christopher Boucek, an associate of the Carnegie Middle East Programme. "But it's not on the level of sophistication seen in previous multiple, coordinated attacks."The Saudi and Yemeni branches of al Qaeda merged early this year to form AQAP. They regrouped in Yemen following a vigorous counter-terrorism campaign led by Prince Mohammed, deputy interior minister, that badly damaged militants in Saudi Arabia.AQAP is led by a Yemeni, Nasser al-Wahayshi, but it named as commanders two Saudis freed from the U.S. detention centre at Guantanamo Bay who had later graduated from Saudi Arabia's rehabilitation scheme for militants -- run by Prince Mohammed.Although one later surrendered to the authorities, that was a setback to a scheme that has won much publicity, even though the Saudis say its successes still outweigh occasional failures.Boucek said the rehab programme was only an adjunct to tough tactics credited with derailing al Qaeda's campaign by 2006...more..http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSLT431329