(AP Photo)
Blasts Kill 3 Before Powell's Saudi Visit
3 Dead, 60 Injured in Shootings, Bombings in Saudi Capital Hours Before Visit By Colin Powell
The Associated Press
Posted on 05/12/2003 10:44:45 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
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(AP Photo) |
Blasts Kill 3 Before Powell's Saudi Visit
3 Dead, 60 Injured in Shootings, Bombings in Saudi Capital Hours Before Visit By Colin Powell
The Associated Press |
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RIYADH, Saudi Arabia May 13 — Hours before a visit by the American secretary of state, attackers shot their way into three gated compounds housing Westerners in Saudi Arabia's capital and set off car bombs. At least three people were killed and about 60 injured, officials said. The string of attacks occurred in quick succession Monday night, capped by a fourth explosion early Tuesday outside the headquarters of a joint U.S.-Saudi owned company in Riyadh.
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. that three people were confirmed dead but gave no other details. U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Robert Jordan, told CNN that 40 of the injured were Americans and said there were unconfirmed reports "of a couple of American deaths." Hospital officials in Riyadh told The Associated Press that at least 50 wounded were taken to the National Guard Hospital, and other hospitals reported at least 10 injured and one dead. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell was expected to arrive in Riyadh Tuesday as scheduled, according to American officials in Jordan, Amman. Powell, who already has visited Israel, the West Bank, Egypt and Jordan on a Mideast tour, was to meet Saudi leaders to seek help in harnessing militant groups and in promoting Palestinian reform. No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks, but American officials said they suspected Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terrorist network. An intelligence official in Washington said information from the past two weeks indicated al-Qaida was planning a strike in Saudi Arabia. "(Al-Qaida) is certainly a prime suspect, I would say," Jordan said on CNN. Saudi officials also have said al-Qaida was planning attacks in the oil-rich kingdom, which is bin Laden's birthplace and home to Islam's holiest sites. Saudi Arabian men also made up 15 of the 19 Sept. 11 hijackers. The blasts came as the United States is pulling out most of the 5,000 troops it had based in Saudi Arabia, whose presence fueled anti-American sentiment. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said last week that most would be gone by the end of the summer. Bin Laden has used the presence of U.S. soldiers in the kingdom the birthplace of Islam as a rallying call for attacks on U.S. interests worldwide. In Monday night's attacks, gunmen in three cars shot their way into the three residential compounds before setting off explosives in the vehicles, a Saudi official said on condition of anonymity. The official said it was not known if the gunmen killed themselves in the blasts or fled. Smoke rose into the night sky from one of the attacked compounds, located in the Garnata neighborhood in eastern Riyadh, and a helicopter circled overhead, scanning the ground with a searchlight. Hundreds of anti-riot police and members of the elite National Guard were evacuating the area and sealing it off as ambulances rushed in. "We don't know how many are injured, but we received 50 and the number is growing," an official at the National Guard Hospital in Riyadh told The Associated Press by telephone, without identifying himself. "We're very busy, we are receiving a lot of casualties." The wealthy gated communities that were attacked house corporate executives and other professionals. About half of the residents were Westerners and the rest were Saudis and other Arabs, a Saudi official said. State Department officials said the American school in Riyadh likely will be closed Tuesday, and advised Americans to remain at home until further notice. Earlier this month, it had advised Americans earlier against traveling to Saudi Arabia because of increased terrorism concerns. Justice Department and FBI officials said they were monitoring the situation but had no immediate indication that other attacks might be planned against U.S. interests at home or abroad. Witnesses at the Garnata compound said the force of the blast shook nearby buildings and rattled windows. Witnesses also reported hearing gunfire moments before the car exploded. The compound is owned by Riyadh's deputy governor, Abdullah al-Blaidh. The names of the other two Western compounds attacked were not immediately known. An American who lives in one of the targeted areas compounds told the AP in an e-mail exchange from Riyadh that there was extensive damage to property and that he believed there had been some deaths. Three Boeing Co. employees were slightly injured by flying glass, said Boeing spokesman Bob Jorgensen. They are among a group of 12 Boeing instructors training Saudi Air Force on operating Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) jets, the spokesman said in Seattle. The fourth blast went off at the headquarters of the Saudi Maintenance Company, also known as Siyanco, early Tuesday morning. The company is a joint-owned venture between Frank E. Basil, Inc., of Washington, and local Saudi partners, the officials reported. A previously unknown Saudi group, the Mujahedeen in the Arabian Peninsula, earlier vowed on an Internet site to strike against American targets worldwide but it was not clear whether the explosions in Riyadh were linked to the group. Last week, a senior Saudi security official said suspected terrorists were receiving orders directly from bin Laden and had been planning attacks in Saudi Arabia targeting the royal family as well as American and British interests. The prime targets were the defense minister, Prince Sultan, and his brother, the interior minister, Prince Nayef, the official said. On May 6, Saudi security forces seized a large cache of weapons and explosives in Riyadh when searching for a number of suspected terrorists, an unidentified government official told the state-run Saudi Press Agency. At least 19 men, including 17 Saudis, an Iraqi holding both Kuwaiti and Canadian citizenship, and a Yemeni, were being sought in connection with the terror plots, the agency reported. Their names and pictures were shown on state-run Saudi television, and a reward of more than $50,000 was offered to anyone turning in any of the suspects. A week earlier, an American civilian working for the Saudi Royal Navy was attacked and slightly injured in eastern Saudi Arabia. In 1996, a truck bombing killed 19 Americans at the Khobar Towers barracks in Dhahran. In 1995, a car bomb exploded at a U.S.-run military training facility in Riyadh. Seven people died, including five American advisers to the Saudi National Guard. The Islamic Movement for Change and two smaller groups in the region claimed responsibility.
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Disfavorable attitude.
I would work much harder.
CNN was showing a video of the damage, had a 3 or 4 story structure that had been gutted by the blast!
17 out of 19 ............
Saudi Arabia: Blasts Kill 1 Before Powell's Saudi Visit (unconfirmed reports of American deaths)
Maybe, "Don't do this no mo'" would be better.
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Sydney, May 13 (Bloomberg) -- Explosions rocked compounds housing westerners in Saudi Arabia's capital, Riyadh, in an attack U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said bore ``all the earmarks of al-Qaeda.''
At least three people were killed and 50 injured, Agence France-Presse reported. More than 40 Americans were among those wounded when three complexes were attacked late yesterday by vehicles packed with explosives, U.S. Ambassador Robert Jordan told Cable News Network in a telephone interview. Early indications are that they were suicide bombers, he told CNN.
``Terrorism is a global phenomenon that we must all fight,'' Powell said at a news conference in Jordan. ``The United States will not be deterred from pursuing the interests of peace around the world in the face of this kind of attack.'' The attack in Riyadh was carried out by ``cowardly individuals,'' he said.
The U.S. State Department issued a warning May 1 saying U.S. citizens should defer non-essential travel to Saudi Arabia after it received information terrorist groups may be ``in the final phases of planning attacks against U.S. interests.''
The Saudi government said last week it was hunting for 19 suspected members of the al-Qaeda terrorist network after a gun battle with security forces. Members of the group left behind a weapons cache including automatic weapons and 377 kilograms (829 pounds) of explosives, AFP said at the time.
Stay at Home
``We are advising U.S. citizens to remain at home until we can ascertain the facts and the nature of any ongoing threats,'' State Department spokeswoman Nancy Beck said in Washington. ``At this time, we are working closely with the Saudi authorities.''
The attack in Riyadh late yesterday left at least one westerner dead, AFP said, citing witnesses. His nationality wasn't immediately known. The others were a Saudi and a Lebanese.
``It has been an attack on three residential housing compounds made up largely of westerners,'' Jordan, the U.S. ambassador, told CNN. ``Many of them are western defense contractors but there are also residents of a number of other nationalities in these compounds, including Saudis.''
Armed men fired on the guards of one compound before driving into the complex and blowing up their car, Awadh al-Qahtani, a witness, told AFP.
Another witness identified only as John told the British Broadcasting Corp. it was unlikely anyone in the nearest five or six houses would have survived the blast.
``There is nothing left, only the concrete superstructure,'' he said.
There aren't any changes in Powell's plans to visit Riyadh today, Beck said.
Last Updated: May 13, 2003 01:18 EDT....you're either promoting or funding this kind of terrorism, or you're not. It's easy to discern.
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