Saudis blame al-Qaida for blasts

MSNBC ^ | 11-9/2003 | MSNBC Staff and wire reports

[stylin_geek]

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, Nov. 9 — Saudi officials pointed to al-Qaida on Sunday as responsible for a suicide car bombing that devastated a Riyadh housing complex, killing at least 11 people and wounding more than 120.

RUBBLE, BROKEN glass, splintered furniture and charred, twisted hunks of metal covered the scene of Saturday’s attack, in which militants — possibly disguised as police — shot their way into the compound in the upscale neighborhood before detonating at least one vehicle packed with explosives. The attack was similar in style to a deadly suicide bombing of another Riyadh housing complex in May, also blamed on al-Qaida.

The Saudi Interior Ministry said the 11 dead included Saudis, Lebanese, Sudanese and Egyptians, among them four children, the kingdom’s official news agency said. The ministry said 122 were injured, but all but 25 had been discharged from hospitals by Sunday afternoon.

Among the dead were three Lebanese — a woman, a 6-year-old boy and a 4-year-old girl — and four Egyptians — a couple and their two sons — according to their countries’ embassies in Riyadh.

The Interior Ministry said 86 people were wounded, mostly women and children. Most of the residents of the 200-house compound were Lebanese, though some Saudis live there as well as a few families from Germany, France and Italy.

A Lebanese man who was slightly injured, Gaby Kallas, 44, told The Associated Press that he heard gunfire and three explosions. The ceiling of the compound cafeteria where he and his friends were at the time collapsed and windows shattered, he said.

“A few minutes later I rushed home about two blocks away and found my family OK,” Kallas said. It was unclear if three bombs had detonated or whether one set off multiple explosions.

The streets were crowded at the time of the bombing because of the holy month of Ramadan, now in its third week, when Muslims fast during the day and have dinners and parties late into the night.

Early Sunday, Al-Arabiya TV, quoting unnamed Saudi sources, reported the discovery of an unspecified number of bodies belonging to attackers involved in the blast. The Interior Ministry official, who spoke to The AP on condition of anonymity, said he did not know how many attackers were involved.

WARNING OF ATTACKS

The attack occurred a day after the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh and two other American missions closed for security review, warning that terror attacks could be imminent in the tense Gulf kingdom.

Senior U.S. intelligence officials told NBC News’ Robert Windrem that the attack appears to have targeted a “neighborhood where non-official foreigners live,” adding that the U.S. and Saudi intelligence services had information an attack was imminent.

“Yes indeed,” said one official when asked if the two services had been cooperating in attempting to thwart any attacks over the past several days.

The official noted that the Saudis have in the past week conducted a number of anti-militant raids in the country.

“They have been very good,” said the official, noting the arrest of Saudi’s leading al-Qaida operative, Ali Abd al-Rahman al-Faqasi al-Ghamdi, in Medina in late June.

Saudis assail militants after bombing

Another official told NBC that the recent series of Saudi arrests and raids in and around Mecca is further indication that the kingdom is “being extremely serious in cracking down on al-Qaida. It is significant. And their cooperation with us is by nature and extent unprecedented.”

A still image taken from al-Arabiya television shows a wounded man sitting in a Riyadh hospital following explosions in the city, Sunday.

The official added that since a suspected al-Qaida attack on other Riyadh housing complexes housing foreigners killed 26 bystanders, plus nine attackers, on May 12, Saudi cooperation has escalated sharply. “The change is real, significant,” the official said.

FOUR BUILDINGS DESTROYED

Saudi officials toured the site Sunday and then sealed it off. Witnesses described four residential buildings destroyed, surrounding buildings heavily damaged, and at least six burned vehicles. Some said Saturday’s bombers used what appeared to be a police car.

Footage aired by state-run Saudi TV showed a large crater, apparently gouged out by an explosion.

In comments published Sunday on the Web site of Saudi daily Okaz newspaper, Interior Minister Prince Nayef said they could not rule out a connection to suspected al-Qaida terrorist cells targeted in recent sweeps, as a number of suspects from those cells were still at large.

[stylin_geek]

I see this as affecting Saudi Arabia in two ways.

A.It will either blaim the U.S. for causing this problem, or

B.It will wake Saudi Arabia up to the imminent and real threat posed by Al-Qaida

[bonesmccoy]

Did AQ miss some other target that is located in close proximity to these softer targets?

I'm wondering now if the AQ terrorists missed their primary target and didn't know where they were.

[sonsofliberty2000]

It will wake Saudi Arabia up to the imminent and real threat posed by Al-Qaida

Somehow I seriously doubt this one.

Patriot Paradox

[sonsofliberty2000]

They could just be going for maximum carnage, and may be shifting their aim to civilian targets, thus giving them more deaths and injuries and providing much more terror to the minds of the general populace.

Patriot Paradox

[RandallFlagg]

Saudis blame al-Qaida for blasts

And the french will blame us for provoking them.

Waahhhhh! I say we start demanding the french for payment for their liberation..in adjusted dollars, of course (not euros).

[bonesmccoy]

generating fear in the Saudi population would only have use if they had control of Saudi Arabia to begin with... is there a schism in the House of Saud (i.e. King Faad vs. the owner of the complex bombed)?

We already know there is a schism between OBL and the Saudi's (that has been discussed in the media).

But, suppose that the media message is wrong and that in reality there is collusion between Saudi Arabia and OBL...

[kinghorse]

That was the experience in Algeria.

[Southack]

The type of target here would indicate an *all* foreign suicide operation. Locals would have known that this was a compound filled with Islamic, Lebanonese children...but these attackers didn't know it.

To have any political, military, or even psycological value, the attackers would have to hit native Saudis (to try to frighten the local populace) or Westerners (preferably for them Christians or Jews). Instead, they hit *observant* Lebanonese Muslim children...a complete fubar of a plan. Locals would have known better. Even Osama Bin Laden himself would have known better (he spent decades in Saudi Arabia).

If Al Qaeda made this hit, then Al Qaeda has been reduced to a leadership comprised of extremely uneducated planners. This hit failed on local Intel, tactics, and strategy. It went 0 for 3. It wouldn't surprise me to learn that more suicide bombers died than did innocents, too.

And there is another possibility, albeit remote: that Al Qaeda didn't make this hit.

Yasser Arafat is under considerable pressure right now in Israel, and it would be in his interest to cause the U.S. a large amount of grief in Saudi Arabia. Ditto for Qadafy in Libya and Assad in Syria...none of whom have the kind of Intel needed to achieve their goals *reliably*, and all of whom could be expected to be able to come up with fanatics willing to go over to Riyadh and carry out some half-baked plan (with the hope of being able to give "credit" to Al Qaeda, of course).

In short, this attack was so poorly planned and executed that one has to at least question who did it.

[stylin_geek]

Or, the attack failed due to the fact suicide bombers who are smart enough to get the job done right, for obvious reasons, are not around for further attacks.

[Mossad1967]

9 November 2003: (NEW)

A final warning to all of the Muslims in three sites inside the United States - Washington - New York - Los Angeles...

The hit from al Qaeda is inevitable.... the complete readiness for zero day God willing depart immediately...

Encoded Message (?):

All of the goals are open and the hour is 36 and 25 and 36, east of, west of, oblique, took place

By Allah in the name of and the praise Allah, and by God's blessing, ا, oh Allah pray you and greeted on Mohammad, ش, oh Allah aim the throw of the Al-Qaeda 97, ن, oh Allah repay the throw of the Al-Qaeda 67, ط, oh Allah repay the throw of the Al-Qaeda 87, ن, oh Allah he flooded the enemies with the waters and the volcanoes, to, oh Allah explode the cells of their heads oh Allah explode their eyes, ن, 988888 oh Allah Amin is my receipt and greeted on Mohammad a governor Mohammad, د, ن،

[FreeReign]

[Headline]:Saudis blame al-Qaida for blasts

[From the article]: Senior U.S. intelligence officials told NBC News’ Robert Windrem that the attack appears to have targeted a “neighborhood where non-official foreigners live,” adding that the U.S. and Saudi intelligence services had information an attack was imminent.

So then it's the U.S. AND Saudi's who seem blame al-Qaeda for the blast. And, why some much attention to the blamer in the headline?

The headline seems to shift attention away from the group most likely to have done this -- al-Qaeda -- and it seems to shift the attention clearly to the blamers.

Why?

[FreeReign]

It will wake Saudi Arabia up to the imminent and real threat posed by Al-Qaida.

They've know about the threat at least since the Crawford meeting two years ago and even more likely way before when they kicked OBL out of their stinkin country.

[Grampa Dave]

They bombed who, they wanted to bomb just like the last time. If they had wanted to target just Saudis, they would have bombed a rich or poor Saudi neighborhood.

"The Interior Ministry said 86 people were wounded, mostly women and children. Most of the residents of the 200-house compound were Lebanese, though some Saudis live there as well as a few families from Germany, France and Italy.

[steveegg]

You forgot option #s 3 and 4...

C: They see the need to hire ChiCom intelligence agents to do their targeting for them.

D: It won't affect Saudi Arabia at all.

[Beck_isright]

Dear House of Saud:

You get what you pay for.

Sincerely,
America, and the Victims of 9/11

[ETERNAL WARMING]

Well I blame the Saudis. They're the ones who promoted, supported and financed this hatred. Now it's turned on the owners. About time.

[bonesmccoy]

Grandpa Dave,

I don't understand. Perhaps, AQ's action from last night is not logical anyway. But, assuming that the action has some logic to it, why would Al Qeda intentionally strike other Muslim Arabs like the Lebanese? Where these Lebanese the Christian Lebanese but living in Saudi Arabia?

Germany and France were obstructing the US ability to strike at Iraq. If AQ was in alliance with Iraq/Hussein, why strike German and French interests after they obstructed the UK/USA from acting through the UN?

Something doesn't make sense from last night. While the markers are all present, we're not understanding something... it's just a feeling...

a feeling that it does not fully compute.

Perhaps, it is not meant to compute, but the middle eastern ethnic groups have a long history of law, order, rationale, academics, and culture. For AQ to act in a fashion that lacks these attributes seems out of character. After all, if they are sufficiently sophisticated to concoct these strange timings and events, there is something more strategic that must underlie their targetting last night.

Perhaps part of this answer lies with apprehended criminals at Gitmo and is classified?

I guess we'll never know as ordinary citizens.... just my pondering tonight...

god bless and thanks for the message...

[bonesmccoy]

Strange messages...is that from that Yahoo! whacko calling himself Daleel?

Sometimes I don't like you. You make me feel uncomfortable. Perhaps because you are making me feel uneasy... on one hand I feel like I can not trust you (since you claim to be an agent of a non-US interest) but on the other hand, I can not think of another agency from any other nation that would be more aligned with US interests.

Like it or not, the interests of Israel and the US are now unified... Al Qeda has created an international perception that the USA is controlled by Jewish interests. Of course, AQ neglects to point out the multi-ethnic nature of the USA.... but that is besides the point... isn't it?

Still, the rhymes you print are odd... almost poetic.

it is like attempting to prophesize from the Talmud/Torah or Old Testment... you can try, but God only knows.

God bless my "Mossad" friend...and stay safe...

(salute)

[bonesmccoy]

are you referring to the conflict involving France in Algeria?

[stlnative]

Attack seen as proof of al Qaeda
Arabs suffer suicide bombing, 17 killed, including 5 children

by Donna Abu-Nasr
Indiana Daily Student

---

Published Monday, November 10, 2003

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- Saudis blamed al Qaeda militants Sunday for the suicide car bombing of a Riyadh housing complex that killed 17 people, declaring it proof of the terror network's willingness to shed Muslim blood in its zeal to bring down the U.S.-linked Saudi monarchy.

The attack late Saturday at an upscale compound for foreign workers -- where mostly Arabs lived, also wounded 122 people. The blast, not far from diplomatic quarters and the king's main palace, left piles of rubble, hunks of twisted metal, broken glass and a large crater.

"It's no longer an issue of terrorism for them," said Dawood al-Shirian, a Saudi analyst. "It's become a war on the regime, a war to turn the country into a new Afghanistan ruled by a Saudi-style Taliban."

An Interior Ministry official told the official Saudi news agency late Sunday that the death toll rose to 17 -- including five children -- after search crews pulled six more bodies from the rubble. At least 13 were Arabs, with the others as yet unidentified, the official said.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said he was "personally quite sure" al Qaeda was behind the Saturday night attack "because this attack bears the hallmark of them."

Such attacks appear to be directed "against the government of Saudi Arabia and the people of Saudi Arabia," he said, adding that he expected more to follow.

Al Qaeda "will prefer to have many such attacks to appear bigger than they are," he told a news conference shortly after arriving in the Saudi capital. Such attacks showed that "all of us have to work together."

Gunmen -- possibly disguised as police -- shot their way into the 200-house compound, trading fire with security guards. The attackers, believed to be in a police car, then drove into the compound and blew themselves up.

It still wasn't clear late Sunday how many attackers there were or if they were listed as among the dead.

The victims included Lebanese, Egyptian, Sudanese and Saudis. The Interior Ministry said most of the wounded were Arabs as well. Most of the compound's residents were Lebanese, but some Saudis, German, French and Italian families also lived there.

Four U.S. citizens were among the wounded, the ministry said. In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Amanda Batt said "some Americans were treated for minor injuries and released."

In comments published Sunday on the Web site of Saudi daily Okaz newspaper, Interior Minister Prince Nayef said he could not rule out a connection to suspected al Qaeda terrorist cells targeted in recent sweeps, as a number of suspects from those cells were still at large.

Adding to the al Qaeda connection was the similarity between Saturday's bombing and attacks also blamed on the terror network -- particularly the May 12 suicide car bombings of other Riyadh compounds housing foreigners, which killed 26 bystanders. Nine attackers also died.

Led by Saudi-born dissident Osama bin Laden, al Qaeda has long opposed the Saudi royal family, accusing it of being insufficiently Islamic and too close to the West, particularly the United States.



"Attack seen as proof of al Qaeda"
http://www.idsnews.com/story.php?id=19640