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Death toll mounts in Saudi attacks
Attackers shot their way into three housing compounds in the Saudi capital and then set off suicide car bombs, killing at least 13 foreigners, officials reported today. Secretary of State Colin Powell said the coordinated terror strike had "the earmarks of al-Qaida." Powell, who arrived today on a previously scheduled visit despite the attacks, said at least 10 Americans were among the dead. Philippine authorities reported two deaths and Australian officials reported one. U.S. Ambassador Robert Jordan said at least 40 of the injured were Americans.
| And we might add that the slaughter was timed to coincide with Powell's arrival. Welcome to beautiful Soddy Arabia, home of the holy mosques... |
A U.S. official said overall casualties appeared to be in the hundreds and that several members of the Saudi National Guard died in the attacks. He also said British, German, French, Australian and other Arab citizens were among the dead and wounded. Saudi officials told the Associated Press at least 50 wounded people were taken to the National Guard Hospital. Other hospitals reported at least 10 injured. The attacks late Monday were followed by a smaller bombing today near the headquarters of a Saudi-U.S. company. No casualties were reported in that bombing.
| That was the fourth explosion that was reported last night... |
At the housing complexes today, five floors of buildings were blown out, their outer walls sheared off. Heaps of rubble and blocks of upended concrete surrounded spikes of twisted steel rebar. Burned-out cars were still in their parking spots. Police vehicles patrolled the walls of the compounds and kept reporters out. Al-Hamra compound, which suffered one of the worst attacks, was hidden behind 20-foot walls. Surveillance cameras were posted along the walls. Most of the homes in such compounds are large, single-family villas that would not be out of place in an upper middle class California neighborhood scattered around well-tended parks, swimming pools and sports fields. Their inhabitants tend to be professionals in the oil industry, the financial sector or schools. A guard at one of the housing compounds in the northeastern section of the city was quoted by the Saudi paper al-Watan as saying that seven cars exploded there, all apparently carrying suicide bombers. At least three bodies could be seen lying on the ground at the compound this morning. Witnesses at the al-Blaidh compound said the force of the blast shook nearby buildings and rattled windows. Witnesses also reported hearing gunfire moments before the car exploded.
| That would have been the Bad Guys shooting their way in... |
Powell was greeted on his arrival by Prince Saud, the Saudi foreign minister, who expressed his sorrow and vowed to cooperate with the United States in fighting terrorism. "It is no consolation, but these things happen everywhere," Saud said. "It should increase our efforts and should make us not hesitate to take whatever measures that are needed to oppose these people, who know only hate, only killing."
| Actually, they don't happen everywhere, and in most of the places they do happen they're imported. Their genesis is in Soddy Arabia, and until Soddy Arabia starts going after the "spiritual heads" and the money men it will continue. Forever. |
An intelligence official in Washington said information from the past two weeks indicated al-Qaida had been planning a strike in Saudi Arabia. The blasts came as the United States is pulling out most of the 5,000 troops it had based in Saudi Arabia. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said last week that most would be gone by the end of the summer.
| And good riddance. Next time we come back, maybe we'll have learned enough lessons from Iraq and Afghanistan and whoever's next on the list that we'll be able to build a civilized government on the Arabian sandpile... |
The Saudi Interior Minister, Prince Nayef, told local newspapers the assailants were believed to be linked to the May 6 discovery of a large weapons cache. The Saudi government was seeking 19 suspects in that case â including 17 Saudis, a Yemeni, and an Iraqi with Kuwaiti and Canadian citizenship â that it believed were receiving orders directly from bin Laden. The government said the group had been planning to use the seized weapons to attack the Saudi royal family as well as American and British interests. Prince Nayef told the al-Watan newspaper that one of the 19 people sought in the cache case handed himself in â it was unclear when â and was being interrogated for information about Monday's explosions. So far he had offered "limited information," Nayef told the paper.
| In that case they're not hitting him hard enough... |
A previously unknown Saudi group, the Mujahedeen in the Arabian Peninsula, had linked itself to the cache found May 6 and over the weekend vowed on an Internet site to strike American targets worldwide. It was not clear whether the explosions in Riyadh were linked to the group.
| Another false nose and moustache al-Qaeda grouplet, only wearing multicolored wigs under their turbans... |
State Department officials said the American school in Riyadh would be closed today and advised Americans to remain at home until further notice. Earlier this month, it had advised Americans against traveling to Saudi Arabia because of increased terrorism concerns. Justice Department and FBI officials had no immediate indication that other attacks might be planned against U.S. interests at home or abroad.
| It'll be a little while before the next one. What'll be interesting will be whether the Soddies pursue the perps in this one with the level of application and expertise the Indonesians exhibited in going after the Bali bombers. The Indons took that seriously; if the Soddies take this atrocity seriously, they'll be able to wipe out a major group of krazed killers. If not, it will be Kobar Towers all over again. |
British telecommunications executive John Crossley was knocked out by the force of a blast and suffered cuts from glass from his shattered windows. He was quoted as telling the Los Angeles Times that other villas were leveled by the force of the blast. Crossley, speaking to the newspaper in a telephone interview, said a carload of men in a car shot their way into the compound. He said guards gave chase through the streets until the attackers' car exploded. "The fact that they have attacked three compounds in a coordinated way sends a message to the Western community that we are not safe here. It's like they're saying, 'We can get you any time, anywhere,'" Crossley was quoted as saying.
| Unlike their government, at least up to this point, the Arabian guards seem like they were taking their job seriously... |
The small blast went off early today near the headquarters of the Saudi Maintenance Company, also known as Siyanco. The company is a jointly owned by Frank E. Basil Inc. of Washington and local Saudi partners, officials said.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt 2003-05-13 |
