Fourth Riyadh Bombing-FOXNEWS

FoxNews ^ | 05/12/03 | GRRRRR

[GRRRRR]

After three explosions over an hour and half ago, another bomb has now exploded in DOWNTOWN Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Shep Smith on FOXNEWS has just reported on this at 1821hrs CDT.

The attack is thought to be Al Qaieda and targeted a joint US/Saudi business.

[michigander]

Westerners, Saudis Killed by Riyadh Blasts -Hospital

Mon May 12, 2003 08:10 PM ET

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) - An unspecified number of Westerners and Saudis were killed in at least three explosions that ripped through compounds housing foreigners in the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh, a Saudi hospital official said on Tuesday.

"Dozens of people were wounded and they are being treated at some 10 hospitals," the official at the al-Hamadi hospital told Reuters. "I am sure there are dead. They are Westerners and Saudis."

He said none of the dead were at his hospital but he had received reliable information from colleagues elsewhere of the deaths.

[visualops]

Exactly what I was thinking.
Bad for the Saudis, but good in that we are being effective.
IMHO AQ is running scared. Their big puff-up the other day about US intelligence was key- it was a Bagdad Bobism for sure.

[yonif]

Let's go after the terrorists alright, at the same time in the Middle East we are letting a terrorist leadership go about its moves for statehood (I am referring to the PLO).

[randita]

I thought the same thing....next we'll hear...please come back, usa

And our answer will be..."Sure, IF you break all financial support with Islamic terrorists groups and kick their leaders and members out of SA. Until you do that, you are on your own."

The squeeze of the SA Royal Family is on. We'll see how badly they want to keep their power and opulent lifestyles. If they don't meet our conditions, they will end up like the Shah of Iran.

[TrebleRebel]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3022473.stm

A BBC video from the above link says that at one complex the car on the suicide mission had to break into the compund using machine gun fire against the guards - the compound was apparently heavily defended. The report also said that not many Americans were living at this compound - they were all foreigners but mostly from Europe, the far east, and other countries in the niddle east.

[McGavin999]

I don't think we're going to need to go back in there. I think the Saudis will now be able to take action against these terrorists and extremists.

Al Qaeda is incredibly stupid. They went after us, and we opened the gates of hell on them. They have hated the Saudi royal family for years and now they are taking action because the US is pulling out and they think they have a free hand to take over and form their Califate (sp?) right there in the country with the two most holy Muslim sites. Everyone should have known this was coming.

Now the Royal Family will be able to crack down without too much screaming from their own people. It exposes Al Qaeda for what they are and proves they are not the "heros" they pretended to be.

[Nachum]

Not at all. I think that the Saudis and their people are a chief sponsor of terror world wide. However, our troops purpose there isn't to clean up Saudi Arabia. We have no mission to fight terror there.

We either kick there butts or get out. That simple. No sitting ducks on American bases, waiting for the next car bomb or sniper. If you can't see that, than there is nothing I can do for you either.

[michigander]

Bomb attacks rock Saudi capital

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, May 13 — Less than a week after al-Qaida warned of an imminent strike, U.S. and Saudi officials said Tuesday morning that at least 80 people and perhaps many more were injured in four bomb attacks against U.S. interests in the Saudi capital, one of them a massive blast at a residential complex housing Americans and other Westerners.

DIPLOMATIC AND MILITARY sources told NBC News that three explosions occurred simultaneously late Monday at gated compounds in a residential complex in an eastern suburb of Riyadh.
An explosives-packed car crashed into one of the compounds and exploded, U.S. and Saudi officials said. A group of people then tried to enter the compound, and gunbattles with authorities followed, a local reporter said.
An official at National Guard Hospital told news agencies that its emergency room was treating 50 people after the explosions and was expecting many more. Officials at Abdulaziz Medical City told NBC News that they were expecting at least 30 patients.
A fourth explosion was reported early Tuesday morning at the headquarters of a joint U.S.-Saudi-owned company in Riyadh, security officials told The Associated Press. There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties at the Saudi Maintenance Co., also known as Siyanco.

COMPLEX HOUSES WESTERNERS
About half of the residents of the residential complex, which is known as Garnata, are Western nationals, a Saudi official told NBC News, including a sizable number of U.S. government workers and their families. Authorities believe the attack was in retaliation for recent arrests of suspected members of al-Qaida, the terrorist network led by Saudi native Osama bin Laden, the official said.
Secretary of State Colin Powell was in Jordan on Tuesday and was scheduled to arrive in Saudi Arabia about noon Tuesday for meetings with Crown Prince Abdullah. Officials traveling with Powell said the secretary would go ahead with his plans.
In a seemingly similar attack in June 1996, terrorists struck the Khobar Towers, a U.S. residential barracks in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. Nineteen Americans were killed, and hundreds more were wounded.

TRAVEL WARNING
The State Department issued a warning earlier this month advising Americans to avoid travel to Saudi Arabia because of increased terrorism concerns.
On May 6, Saudi security forces seized a large cache of weapons and explosives in Riyadh as they were searching for a number of suspected terrorists, an unidentified Saudi official said.
The official, quoted by the state-run Saudi Press Agency, said at least 19 men — 17 Saudis, a Yemeni and an Iraqi holding both Kuwaiti and Canadian citizenship — were being sought in connection with the plots.
Only a week ago, a new spokesman for al-Qaida, which is blamed for the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States, warned of an attack against U.S. interests in a series of e-mail exchanges with the London-based Arabic-language magazine al-Majalla.
The spokesman, Thabet bin Qais, was quoted as claiming that al-Qaida had taken a “new form” after its leadership was ousted from its former home in Afghanistan by U.S. military forces.
“The Americans only have predictions and old intelligence left,” al-Majalla quoted bin Qais as saying. “It will take them a long time to understand the new form of al-Qaida.”
The magazine quoted bin Qais as warning of plots “the size of the Sept. 11 attacks” and promising that “a strike against America is definitely coming.”
A senior U.S. official told NBC News that bin Qais was believed to be a credible spokesman for al-Qaida. “He is legitimate,” the source said. “We have to take him seriously.”
U.S. officials told NBC News that there had recently been a high level of intelligence “chatter” — intercepted radio and telephone conversations between suspected terrorists — but no clear indication where or when they might attack.

NBC’s Charlene Gubash in Cairo, Egypt; Jim Miklaszewski, Tammy Kupperman and Betsy Steuart in Washington; and Robert Windrem in New York; The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

[maica]

Many of the foreign workers in Riyadh actually staff the hospitals. This is going to blow the lid off of a lot more than the sites targeted tonight.

[steveegg]

I wonder if four bombs in one night is enough for the Saudis to get serious about terrorists in their midsts.

Depends on who planted the bombs. If it was the House of Saud, or their paramilitary arm (Al-Qaeda), not a chance.

[WaterDragon]

What are the fatalities and injuries.

The targets must be civilians since the U.S. military has already announced it is moving out.

The House of Saud is in deep trouble.

[P.O.E.]

I can't believe the terrorists haven't figured out that terrorist bombings of Americans are the best way to ensure that more Americans will be on their way.

[Imal]

Perhaps you are privy to operational information that is not available to me, in which case, I must defer to your inside sources.

As to whether American forces in Saudi Arabia are sitting ducks, I cannot say. That is a matter for the force commanders to take up, not me.

To suggest that retreat in any form is the correct strategy for fighting terrorism, however, is to suggest something with which I can never agree.

If you have specific concerns about the missions or security of U.S. forces in Saudi Arabia, I am sure the unit commanders there would be as interested in hearing about them as I am. Vague complaints about them being "sitting ducks', unsupported by facts, will probably not impress either of us.

Correct me where I am wrong.

[Shermy]

From the "Arab News"

http://www.arabnews.com/Article.asp?ID=26154

Bombs Rock Riyadh
Raid Qusti & Mohammed Alkhereiji



RIYADH/JEDDAH, 13 May 2003 — Four explosions rocked the national capital last night, and witnesses told Arab News that many people were wounded.

According to Al-Arabiya television channel, security forces exchanged fire with the terrorists inside the compound. The network also reported that many charred bodies were seen being taken from ambulances at a local hospital.

An Interior Ministry statement confirmed the blasts and said an investigation is under way.

A US State Department official said the United States believes three car bombs were detonated in front of three compounds housing US and other Western nationals.

No US officials are believed to live at the housing compounds, a State Department official said.

The Al-Hamra compound is located in eastern Riyadh on the road to the airport.

The other two locations were named as the Cordoval and Gedawal compounds by informed sources.

There was a fourth explosion at the headquarters of the Saudi Maintenance Company, also known as Siyanco.

The explosions occurred hours before US Secretary of State Colin Powell was due to arrive in the capital. It was not immediately clear if the incidents would affect his travel plans.

A resident of the Al-Hamra compound, where the blast took place, talked to Arab News moments after the explosion took place.

Nick, a European national, told Arab News that the incident took place at around 11.15 p.m. He said that he and his family were sleeping when they woke up to the sound of gunfire. Moments later, a loud explosion within the compound was heard followed by another bigger explosion.

A foreigner driving down Dammam Road on his way to Riyadh told Arab News that he saw a huge ball of fire and a thick black cloud of smoke rise above the capital.

The explosion was so powerful that it blasted windows and even doors off the villas of the residential compounds.

“I have a five-month-old baby. She was sleeping next to the window when the blast took place,” said Nick.

The European national, who works for a reputable international company, said that he was on the second floor of his villa when the gunfire and blasts were heard. His four daughters immediately took to the floor when the gunfire was heard, as they had been trained to do so.

Sirens from police cars and the sound of helicopters could also be heard hovering around the compound, he said.

Another resident said that he saw “scores” of bodies on the ground following the explosion at Al-Hamra compound.

“I do not want to cause panic. The security and police said they will handle the situation,” he said.

Al-Hamra compound houses many international residents living in the capital. Alongside with Arizona compound, and Granada Village, the three are the most elite compounds in Riyadh that are especially attractive to foreigners.

Last week, police had seized a huge stash of explosives, weapons and cash following a shootout with suspected terrorists in the capital. Interior Ministry said police were hunting “19 terrorists, 17 of them Saudis” who “intended to carry out acts of terrorism.”

Al-Majallah, a sister publication of Arab News, citing an e-mail message from a newly-appointed Al-Qaeda spokesman, Thabet ibn Qais, said last week that “an attack against America was inevitable.”

Al-Qaeda has “carried out changes in its leadership and sidelined the Sept. 11, 2001 team,” the magazine quoted Thabet as saying. “Future missions have been entrusted to the new team, which is well protected against the US intelligence services,” the magazine quoted Thabet as saying. “The old leadership does not know the names of any of its members.”

[Califelephant]

1) AQ to U.S.: "Get out of Saudi Arabia or we will commit acts of terror on you."
2) U.S. announces it is leaving Saudia Arabia.
3) AQ attacks U.S. interests in Saudia Arabia.

Isn't there an utter lack of logic here?

[BagCamAddict]

"Even moderate Arabs will now have to live in fear of their attacks."

I doubt it. Everyone knows that "Westerners" are the targets of their attacks. Arabs won't have anything to fear until it goes beyond Westerners. The first three attacks were on occupied Western compounds, where people were present. The fourth attack was on a joint Saudi-US owned company, where no people were present because it was 1:00 am. So the fourth attack sends a message, but doesn't harm many (if any) people physically.

[FreeReign]

Al Qaeda is incredibly stupid. They went after us, and we opened the gates of hell on them. They have hated the Saudi royal family for years and now they are taking action because the US is pulling out and they think they have a free hand to take over and form their Califate (sp?) right there in the country with the two most holy Muslim sites. Everyone should have known this was coming. Now the Royal Family will be able to crack down without too much screaming from their own people. It exposes Al Qaeda for what they are and proves they are not the "heros" they pretended to be. (My Bold)

Good post.

Yes, Al Qaeda and the immediate S.A. Royal Family HAVE been enemies for years. It's amazing how many on this thread forget this after several years of unsourced NY Times propaganda and catch phrases.

Anyway, now that Sadaam, OBL and Arafat are gone and now that the governments in both Syria and Iran are on the edge, the S.A. royal family will now act -- as was planed all along IMO -- to remove whatever Al Qaeda sympathizers remain in S.A.

[FreeReign]

If it was the House of Saud, or their paramilitary arm (Al-Qaeda)...

Document for me how Al-Qaeda is the "paramilitary arm" of Al-Qaeda.

[GovernmentShrinker]

"CaliPHate" is the English word (though I have no idea why, since there's no ph=f concept in the Arabic alphabet). And Merriam-Webster online gives "calif" as an alternate spelling for "caliph", but doesn't do the same for "caliphate". I think "caliFate" is what the left coast socialists are trying to set up in the rest of the USA :-)

[stands2reason]

Naaah, they'll say the Mossad did it...