JEDDAH, 8 December 2004 — Saudi authorities yesterday named the slain gunmen who stormed the US Consulate here on Monday. The daylight assault on the heavily fortified consulate claimed at least nine lives, including five consulate staff and four militants.
The Saudi branch of Osama Bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda network claimed responsibility for the attack in a website statement as apparent revenge for the US-led assault on the Iraqi city of Fallujah last month.
An Internet statement signed by the “Al-Qaeda Organization in the Arabian Peninsula” claimed the attack in the name of the “martyr” Abu Anas Al-Shami, a top aide to Iraq’s most wanted man, Abu Mussab Al-Zarqawi. Al-Shami was reportedly killed near Baghdad earlier this year.
“This operation is one of the series of operations carried out by the Al-Qaeda organization in their war against the crusaders and the Jews to chase the infidels out of the Arabian Peninsula,” the group said.
The Interior Ministry said five members of a “deviant group” — its term for Al-Qaeda sympathizers — hurled bombs as a diplomatic vehicle was driving into the compound, then torched one of the buildings and attacked people on the site.
Security forces rushed to the scene and besieged the assailants, killing three and wounding the two others, one of whom later died in hospital, it said.
The ministry identified three of the slain gunmen as Fayez ibn Awwad Al-Jeheni, Eid ibn Dakhilallah Al-Jeheni and Hassan ibn Hamed Al-Hazmi, none of whom was on a most-wanted list of suspected Al-Qaeda sympathizers issued by authorities a year ago.
“The identity of the fourth, who is wounded, must not be divulged for the sake of public interest, and procedures are under way to establish the identity of the fifth person, who died in the incident,” a statement said, adding that all four identified were Saudis.
Gee, I wonder who he is...