Posted on 06/30/2002 11:58:01 AM PDT by kattracks
JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia, Jun 30, 2002 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- A bomb was found attached to the bottom of a car belonging to an American hospital worker, and what was termed a "suspicious object' was located stuck to the underside of a Briton's vehicle, according to a U.S. Embassy security circular obtained by The Associated Press on Sunday.
The devices were removed without incident, the circular said, adding that both incidents occurred over the weekend.
The discoveries followed close upon the June 20 car bombing that killed a 35-year-old British banker in a Riyadh, the Saudi capital.
The circular said an American employee at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Riyadh found an explosive device attached to his car Saturday.
"The American and his spouse discovered an unfamiliar and suspicious object attached underneath the vehicle because the object was dragging on the road as they set off to work," the circular said.
The document said a "suspicious object" was found attached to the underside of a Briton's vehicle on Sunday at the same residential compound where British banker Simon Veness was killed June 20.
Saudi police were contacted about both finds, removed the devices and were investigating. The names of the Americans and Briton were not immediately known.
A British Embassy official confirmed that "a suspicious object" had been found under a Briton's car and that British citizens had been notified of the incident. He declined to say if the object was a bomb.
Saudi officials were not immediately available for comment.
Increased terror concerns linked to Saudi Arabia have surfaced in recent weeks after the arrest of three Saudis in Morocco in a widening investigation of an alleged al-Qaida plot to attack U.S. and British warships in the Strait of Gibraltar.
Saudi authorities have also detained 13 people - 11 Saudis, a Sudanese man and an Iraqi - for allegedly planning to attack vital installations in the oil-rich state by using explosives and surface-to-air missiles.
In May, Saudi security guards found a missile launcher tube about two miles from a runway at Prince Sultan Air Base, the U.S. military's regional command-and-control center and home to about 4,500 U.S. troops and several military aircraft.
The detained Sudanese man has reportedly confessed that he and six of the arrested Saudis were linked to al-Qaida, the terror network headed Osama bin Laden - the dissident Saudi and prime suspect in the Sept. 11 attacks on the New York and the Pentagon.
Copyright 2002 Associated Press, All rights reserved
It's certainly not Saudi Nationals doing this or, allah forbid, al Queda jihadist.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.