45 years ago today, on January 9, 1980 (November 22, 1979 in the lunar calendar), Saudi Arabia sentenced 63 rebels to death for attacking the Mecca Mosque. January 9, 1980. Officials from both Saudi Arabia and the United States have long claimed that the attack on the Mecca Mosque in November last year was carried out by Iranian Shiite Islamists. Today, when 63 people who had participated in the world-sensation offensive were beheaded, the early statements of Saudi Arabia and the United States were contradictory again. None of the 63 people executed were Iranian. Their leader was a Saudi named Jusay Mobin Saif, a self-proclaimed prophet. In what was actually a Saudi rebellion, he was a military commander. Among the 63 people, 41 are Saudis, 10 are Egyptians, 6 are southern Yemenis, 3 are Kuwait, 1 is Yemeni, 1 is Sudanese and 1 is Iraq. The attack was not launched by a few people. According to statistics from Saudi Arabia, more than 700 people participated in the rebellion. In the battle that led to the government's recapture of the mosque, 117 rebels were killed and 143 were captured; 127 government people were killed and 451 were injured. The official statement said some prisoners who provided weapons to the rebels and some who helped them in the offensive would undergo "religious re-education" within two years.