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Fire at U.S. Consulate in Jeddah
Gunfire broke out around the U.S. consulate in the Saudi city of Jeddah on Monday and a fire erupted in the building, witnesses said. "I heard a heavy exchange of fire," one bystander told Reuters. Flames could be seen and two black plumes of smoke were rising from the building. Around 200 police and national guards sealed off the area around the U.S. mission in the Red Sea city. Alarms could be heard sounding from the building. Shooting broke out for a second time shortly afterwards. It was not immediately known if it was an attack by Muslim militants seeking to drive Westerners out of the kingdom. "We have an emergency case," an official inside the building told Reuters. He gave no details.
A car bomb exploded outside the U.S. consulate in Saudi Arabia port, Jeddah on Monday, injuring several people. According to witnesses, clouds of heavy smoke were seen rising from the area in the latest attacks targeting buildings that houses Westerners in the kingdom. Four of the attackers were holed up inside the building where a gunbattle raged and continued for nearly an hour after the initial explosion, Saudi security forces said. Witnesses said that they heard bursts of gunfire and saw two plumes of smoke rising from the building, as helicopters hovered overhead. They added that the Saudi forces sealed off the area. At least 200 Saudi police and National Guard soldiers are reported to have been deployed in the area. Officials said it was possible hostages were inside the U.S. embassy. According to a Saudi health official, many people injured in the blast were escorted to a hospital in Jeddah, but none were Americans. Saudi officials did not comment on the blast, also no militant group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
One witness at the scene told reporters that smoke was rising from the area while police trying to keep cars and traffic away. Other witnesses said that gunfire was heard shortly before the blast. "I heard a heavy exchange of fire," one bystander told reporters. Several further rounds of shooting could be heard. "We have an emergency case," an official inside the building told reporters. Alarms could be heard sounding from inside the consulate. "The embassy in Riyadh and the missions in Jeddah and Dhahran have been closed as a precaution. We are still trying to gather information," Kalin said. "The magnitude of this assault on the consulate has taken all Jeddah residents by surprise," Khaled al-Maeena, the editor of Arab News located in Jeddah, said. Saudi authorities have stepped up security around the consulate since a series of bombings in 2003, mainly targeting buildings that house foreigners. Posted by: Destro 2004-12-06 |
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