Saudi gunmen kill American in Riyadh

RIYDAH, June 8 (Reuters) - Gunmen shot dead an American who worked for a U.S. contracting firm in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Tuesday, the fifth assault on Westerners in the world's leading oil exporter in five weeks.

The latest killing in the kingdom, battling militants loyal to Saudi-born Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network, heightened fears among tens of thousands of expatriates, many of whom work in the oil industry.

In Washington, a U.S. State Department official confirmed that an American man was killed in Riyadh but said he could not provide details, pending notification of the family.

"I can confirm that an American was killed," said the U.S. official, who asked not to be identified. "We don't yet have any details...to say who did this."

Police said an American was killed after gunshots were fired at his house in eastern Riyadh.

Other security sources quoted witnesses as saying the American was leaving a clinic when gunmen in a car followed him to his home and opened fire at him, killing him instantly.

The American had worked for U.S. contracting company Vinnell, a unit of Northrop Grumman Corp which helps train the Saudi National Guard, an elite force for the pro-U.S. monarchy.

Tuesday's shooting came after suspected al Qaeda militants shot dead on Sunday Irish cameraman Simon Cumbers, 36, and critically wounded BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner, 42, in a Riyadh area known as a militant stronghold.

Al Qaeda militants also killed 22 people, 19 of them expatriates, in a shooting and hostage-taking spree in the oil city of Khobar last month. The assault helped push oil prices to record highs on fears of instability in the kingdom.

A purported statement by al Qaeda in Saudi Arabia warned of new attacks on U.S. and Western airlines and asked Muslims to keep away from Westerners to avoid falling victim to an attack.

Security analysts said the militants, waging a campaign to destabilise the monarchy and drive out Western "infidels" from the birthplace of Islam, were going after individuals and soft targets because of a security clampdown on them since last year.

At least 80 civilians and police have been killed since May last year in a string of al Qaeda suicide bombings and attacks. Police have killed or arrested nine top militants.

Abdulaziz al-Muqrin, al Qaeda chief in Saudi Arabia, has pledged that this year would be "miserable and bloody" for Saudi Arabia.

The British embassy has advised its 30,000 nationals against non-essential travel to the kingdom. Some 35,000 Americans live in Saudi Arabia and last month Washington urged them to leave.

* * * * *

Don’t Worry – We Only Kill Infidels

* * * *

By Daniel Pipes
FrontPageMagazine.com | June 8, 2004

After an Islamist rampage in the Saudi town of Khobar on May 29-30 that ended in the death of twenty-two persons, survivors of that atrocity have recounted how the terrorists went to great lengths to ensure that they would kill only non-Muslims. Their actions raise a delicate but urgent issue: how might non-Muslims best protect themselves if caught in such a situation?

Even as the massacre was underway, the terrorists took pains to distinguish Muslims from non-Muslims. Here are some of the survivors’ testimonies:

Hazem Al-Damen, Muslim, Jordanian: two terrorists knocked on his door and asked him and others hiding whether they were “Muslims or Christians.” On hearing “Muslims,” the assailants told them to stay in the room because their purpose was to rid the country of Americans and Europeans.

Abu Hashem, 45, Muslim, an Iraqi-American engineer (also called “Mike” in some accounts): The terrorists demanded his residency card, which documented his religion (Muslim) and nationality (American). That combination provoked an argument between two terrorists. “He’s an American, we should shoot him,” said one. “We don’t shoot Muslims,” replied the other. The two went back and forth until the latter decided it: “Don’t be afraid. We won’t kill Muslims, even if you are an American.” With this decision, the terrorists turned polite, even apologizing for breaking into Abu Hashem’s home, searching it, and leaving blood stains on his carpet.

Abdul Salam al-Hakawati, 38, Muslim, a Lebanese corporate financial officer: He and his family hid upstairs in their house after hearing gunfire. Downstairs, they heard the terrorists break in and rummage around before one apparently noticed framed Koranic verses on the wall and announced to the others, “This is a Muslim house.” When a heavily armed terrorist came upstairs, Al-Hakawati confirmed his identity by greeting the assailant with “Assalamu ‘Alaykum,” the Muslim greeting.

Nizar Hajazeen, Christian, a Jordanian software businessmen: He hid with another Jordanian in a room but they opened the door when two armed young men banged violently on it. The terrorists asked the identity of the Jordanians, Arab or Westerners. “We’re Arab,” came the response. Each was then asked, “A Christian or a Muslim?” Both claimed to be Muslims and showed a Koran as proof.

Taking care to kill only non-Muslims appears to be in response to widespread Saudi criticism of Islamist terrorism directed against Muslims; Saudis seem to agree that murder is a tool suitably directed only against non-Muslims, as two quotes suggest:

Abdelaziz Raikhan, a maintenance man for the Saudi security forces, responded to the suicide bombing of a police headquarters in Riyadh that killed 5 people and wounded 148 on April 21, accusing the perpetrators of being “mentally ill. … There’s not one American in this entire area. Not one! What kind of jihad is this?”

Mohsen al-Awaji, a Saudi lawyer, suggests that terrorists should be encouraged by the authorities to go to the many “occupied territories that require resistance,” such as in Afghanistan, Iraq, the Palestinian Authority, and Chechnya. “If someone decides to go, we wish him luck. He’s going to die anyway, so let him die there while achieving something, not die here and kill innocents with him.”

Nor is this the first time Islamists have specifically targeted infidels. In Malaysia in 2000, for example, jihadists purposefully killed two non-Muslim hostages and spared two others, both Muslims. In Pakistan in 2002, a police chief noted killers “took a good fifteen minutes in segregating the Christians and making sure that each one of their targets gets the most horrific death.” The murderers separated Christians from Muslims by requiring each hostage to recite a verse from the Koran. Those who could not were shot.

In all these cases, non-Muslims facing jihadists could have saved themselves by passing as Muslims.

There are several ways they could have done this. They might have greeted their potential murderers with Assalamu ‘alaykum (which, ironically, means “peace be with you”). They might have recited in Arabic the Shahada, the Islamic statement of faith. Or they might have recited in Arabic the first sura (chapter) of the Koran, the essential prayer of Islam called the Fatiha (“Opening”).

In the past, such knowledge would have saved lives. It could probably do so again in the future.

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