The latest terrorist attack in Riyadh came just days after the US Embassy issued a warning of a possible terrorist attack in the Kingdom. It said it had âcredibleâ information that terrorist groups might be planning attacks. As a consequence it decided to send non-essential staff and their families back to the US.
| That half dozen or so cars full of dynamite might have tipped the Soddies without our help, if they were paying attention... |
This is not the first time that US has issued terror warnings that turned out to be all too true. Just two days before the attack on the Al-Muhaya housing compound in Riyadh on Nov. 9 in which 18 people died, the US shut its diplomatic missions in the country, based on received intelligence of a terror threat.
Washingtonâs intelligence abilities have given the conspiracy theorists a field day, with some even trying to lay the blame on the CIA. âHow is it that each time the United States warns of a terrorist attack, a bomb blast follows?â asked Mahmoud Ibrahim, an Egyptian hotel employee in Jeddah. âDoes the United States issue a warning after receiving intelligence reports or is it that terrorists make it a point to bomb a place after such warnings are issued?â asked Abdul Rahman Tijani, a Sudanese hospital technician. âSuch things seem to be happening repeatedly,â a South African said.
In fact, the conspiracy theory is more fantasy than reality. The alert six days ago was just the latest in a string issued by the US as well as other Western governments to citizens living in or visiting the Kingdom. There have been far more than there have been attacks â so many that the significance of such warnings has all but been lost on many Western expats. The day after the alert, a group of 30 Americans flying to the Kingdom turned back at Cairo on the instructions of their company, but they seemed an exception. Other Americans on the same Paris-Cairo-Jeddah flight flew on in. |