Trainees not involved in attack but reportedly accused of having extremist links or possessing child abuse imagesUS to expel a dozen Saudi trainees in wake of Florida naval base shootingThe US will expel at least a dozen Saudi military students accused of extremist links and possessing child sexual abuse images, after an investigation into a shooting rampage by a Saudi officer in Florida, according to media reports. In December Mohammed Alshamrani, who was in the US as part of a Saudi military training program, opened fire in a classroom at the Pensacola naval air station, killing three sailors and wounding eight other people before being shot dead by police. The FBI and the Saudi embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment. That won’t detoxify Saudi Arabia | Simon Tisdall Read moreIn mid-December the Pentagon said it had conducted background checks on all Saudi military personnel currently training in the US and found no “immediate threat scenario.”Defense department officials halted operational training for Saudi military students in the US following the attack, though classroom instruction continued. Some 5,000 international military personnel are undergoing training in the US, including approximately 850 Saudis among all branches.

Source: The Guardian January 12, 2020 06:11 UTC