Other reports (Fox News) say the U.S. embassy has urged all Americans to leave the country, but I have seen no further details. Not clear how this differs from earlier warnings to Americans in Saudi Arabia.
GUNMEN believed to be linked to al-Qaida killed at least nine Saudis and seven foreigners in the Saudi oil city of Khobar yesterday before holing up with about 50 hostages in a housing compound.
Saudi forces stormed the five-star Oasis compound but early today the battle was continuing, militants were still holding hostages and a senior Saudi officer was wounded, security forces said.
>snip<
A statement purportedly from Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network was posted on Islamist websites, claiming responsibility for the attacks.
>snip<
Witnesses said a body was dragged through the streets..
First global warming. Now this. I'm not sure how he does it, but it's that damn Bush's fault!
Islam-The Religion of Peace™
The Spice must flow... You'll have the oil provinces occupied by western military forces if Saudi Arabia doesn't handle this forcefully.
One has to now wonder whether Al Queda now regards the ruling elite of Saudi Arabia as (closer in, easier to strike, much less security) enemies who would traitoriously take steps to ease the US fuel cost crunch that allegedly had the US economy "on the ropes". In other words, perhaps A-Q now thinks its main or more useful enemy is the rulers of Saudi Arabia and also thinks disrupting S-As' attempts to mollify the US fuel crunch provides increased righteousness to their cause.
Hard to try to get inside their brains when it means climbing into a steaming pile of camel dung.
The State Department has been warning Americans *for months* to leave the Magick Kingdom. From what I read, Americans stay because the Saudis pay them in US dollars 5X what they could make in the US, because the Saudis can't do squat on their own, without their foreign worker bees.