Riyadh, 26 June (AKI) - The leaders of a terror cell in Saudi Arabia that has now been disbanded, received their orders directly from Al-Qaeda's second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri.

This is according to a report on the Saudi newspaper, al-Watan.

The Saudi interior ministry revealed on Wednesday that the terror cell was disbanded over the past few months.

According to al-Watan, the police found audio files with the recordings of al-Zawahiri's voice on the mobile phone belonging to the leader of the Saudi terror cell. It is believed there were at least two such messages.

In these messages, al-Zawahiri clearly explained how all the mujahadeen and recruits from north Africa, Iraq and Southeast Asia, were required to carry out carbomb attacks targeting oil installations and the headquarters of local security forces in the country.

The discovery of the messages are believed to be linked to the announcement on Wednesday by Saudi officials that 701 people have been detained in recent months for their alleged involvement in terrorist activities. Out of this group, 520 are still under arrest.

According to the the London-based Arabic-language newspaper, al-Sharq al-Awsat, only 50 percent of those arrested were Saudi citizens.

The others entered the country during the Haj pilgrimage to Mecca and did not return to their home countries.

A large number of those arrested reportedly included citizens from Yemen, Morocco, Kuwait and Chad as well as some Mauritanians, Pakistanis, Afghans and Indonesians.

The report said that almost all of them were recruited by imams in their home countries who were close to al-Qaeda or through various internet sites or web forums that spread Jihadist propaganda.