Thursday February 5, 2004 7:16 PM
By TAREK AL-ISSAWI
Associated Press Writer
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) - A video purported to be from Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terror network shows Saudi militants planning, training for and carrying out what it claimed was the Nov. 8 bombing of a housing compound for foreigners in the Saudi capital that killed 17 people.
The 90-minute video, viewed on an Islamic Web site by The Associated Press in Dubai, shows a vehicle driving up to what it says is the Muhaya compound in Riyadh before loud explosions and gunfire erupt. That portion is blurry and badly lit, and the building is not visible.
It was not possible to verify the video's authenticity. However, it uses language similar to past statements attributed to al-Qaida, and the training scenes are like those seen in videos of al-Qaida camps in Afghanistan. The Web site that showed the video has released other seemingly credible al-Qaida statements.
In October, an al-Qaida-style recording surfaced on the Internet that included what was described as audio of militants launching May 12 attacks on Western housing compounds in Riyadh that killed 26 people and the nine attackers. Bits of video also were accessible with it, but the only clip allegedly of the assault itself showed a black screen with text identifying gunshot noises as a recording of the start of the attack.
The new video contains excerpts from several of bin Laden's previously broadcast comments, as well as the words of other al-Qaida members and Khattab, a Saudi-born Chechen military leader who was killed by Russian forces in 2002.
Militants are seen training with rocket-propelled grenades and surface-to-air missiles, and in hand-to-hand combat.
The video also showed training courses on bomb-making and displayed detonators, timers and wires. It calls the training camp al-Battar and says it is on the Arabian peninsula.
American and Saudi officials blamed al-Qaida for the attack on the Muhaya compound. Although Arabs and other Muslims were living in the compound, the video claimed it housed members of the CIA as well as other Americans. No Americans were killed in the attack.
``If we wanted to destroy the country, then attacking institutions beneficial to the people is much easier than killing a single American,'' said a man who identifies himself as Nasser bin Hamed al-Harbi, allegedly one of the two suicide bombers.
The video showed men purportedly carrying out reconnaissance of the compound, and said the attack was rehearsed repeatedly and computer-simulated.
Some of the footage clearly came from a handheld camera. Two voices could be heard praying as the vehicle moved, moments before the sound of an explosion.
Some members of the team that attacked the compound were believed to have escaped.
In one scene on the video, more than 10 men are shown, most of them covering their faces with ski masks or Arab headscarves, carrying RPGs, semiautomatic weapons, grenades and AK-47 semiautomatic rifles. The video also showed the two purported suicide bombers.
Some militants were shown spraying the vehicle dark blue with light blue stripes along the sides. Saudi authorities said the vehicle used in the attack had been painted to resemble a Saudi security vehicle, with a dark blue body and light blue markings.
``The mujahedeen target only the crusaders. As for the infidel leaders, their day will come, God willing,'' a masked man identified in a subtitle as Abdul Aziz al-Moqrin said on the video, holding an assault rifle.
Al-Moqrin is on a Saudi list of most-wanted terror suspects. He has been identified in newspaper reports as the mastermind of the attack.
Saudi Arabia has been under pressure to show it is more active in fighting terrorism since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, in which 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi citizens.