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Shaken expatriates rethink Saudi future
| .com's info confirmed by al-Guardian. |
Foreign companies in Saudi Arabia are offering to repatriate the families of their staff in the wake of the bloody weekend rampage by militants that left 22 dead, most of them foreigners. As new clashes between suspected militants and security forces were reported in the west of the country, several Japanese companies joined Shell, the Anglo-Dutch oil giant, in offering to pull relatives out of the kingdom. As the ineffectual hunt for three terrorists militants responsible for the attack in Khobar continued, Saudi Arabia's entire Eastern province was placed on red alert. Arab News, the Jeddah-based newspaper, reported yesterday that security had been intensified around the cities of Dammam, Khobar, Dhahran, Jubail, Ahsa and Qatif.
| Thus making it twice as hard for terrorists to slip into compounds of ex-pat workers. |
Last night, the Saudi security forces fought a gun battle with suspected militants near the city of Taif, in the west of the country after gunmen opened fire on a police checkpoint.
| ... thereby drawing attention to themselves. |
| Must not have been any infidels nearby. |
Key installations and business premises were heavily guarded and police battalions were on patrol. Police in some areas have asked companies employing western staff to keep their main gates closed during working hours, and for employees to remain indoors so that they may be more easily herded and slaughtered. A spokesman for the Japan External Trade Organisation in Riyadh told the Associated Press news agency that four or five companies were sending relatives home "to be on the safe side". He said Nippon, Sojitz and Idemitsu Kosan were among them. There are 700 Japanese in Saudi Arabia. Some families are considering relocating to neighbouring Bahrain. Estate agents and international schools there reported an increase in interest after the recent attacks. Kevin Rosser, an analyst at the security consultants Control Risks, said the latest attacks would probably accelerate the transfer of expatriate staff to other Gulf states that are considered safer. "Keeping everyone inside for a few days will help to calm frayed nerves and give the authorities a chance to escort these guys outta the country round these guys up," he said. The Foreign Office said yesterday it had no figures to suggest there would be a wide spread flight from the country.
| And they won't ever have figures, either. |
The Asian community suffered the most casualties in the Khobar attack, with 13 people killed, but many said that returning home was not an option, for financial reasons. "They killed many Indians. They didn't differentiate between them and westerners," Manoj Kumar, an IT manager, told the news agency Reuters. "Even extra security will not protect us; if they want to kill us, they will. We are no longer safe here." A team from the British anti-terrorist group SO13 has flown to the country. A Scotland Yard spokeswoman said the team was "offering assistance and support to the Saudi authorities". It was also gathering information about Michael Hamilton, the Briton killed in the Khobar attack. Four of the five major attacks in the past year involved militants known to the authorities, he said. But Mustapha Alani, a security expert at the Royal United Services Institute, believes there could still be 500-700 people associated with al-Qaida in the country.
| Betcha Prince Najaf knows 'em all. |
Posted by: Steve White 2004-06-02 |
