(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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| Saudi Arabia: Blasts Kill 1 Before Powell's Saudi Visit (unconfirmed reports of American deaths) ^ |
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| Posted by Ernest_at_the_Beach On 05/12/2003 9:22 PM PDT with 9 comments Yahoo News - AP ^ | Mon, May 12, 2003 | HASSAN JAMALI, Associated Press Writer |
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| Saudi Arabia: Blasts Kill 3 Before Powell's Saudi Visit - 3 Dead, 60 Injured in Shootings, Bombings ^ |
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| Posted by Ernest_at_the_Beach On 05/12/2003 10:44 PM PDT with 19 comments ABC NEWS ^ | May 13 , 2003 | The Associated Press |
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| BLASTS HIT SAUDI CAPITAL ^ |
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| Posted by dixie sass On 05/12/2003 8:38 PM PDT with 5 comments BBC News World Edition ^ | May 12, 2003/May13,2003 | Unknown |
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| Fourth Riyadh Bombing-FOXNEWS ^ |
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| Posted by GRRRRR On 05/12/2003 4:23 PM PDT with 108 comments FoxNews ^ | 05/12/03 | GRRRRR |
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| Saudi Arabia: Riyadh eyewitness: 'Massive explosion' ^ |
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| Posted by Ernest_at_the_Beach On 05/12/2003 6:45 PM PDT with 38 comments BBC News ^ | Tuesday, 13 May, 2003, 00:33 GMT 01:33 UK | Staff and news service reports |
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| Three Western Residential Compounds Bombed in Riyadh ^ |
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| Posted by Lawrence of Arabia On 05/12/2003 2:32 PM PDT with 234 comments Telephone Call | May 13, 2003 | Lawrence of Arabia |
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Tuesday, May 13, 2003 Posted: 2:36 AM EDT (0636 GMT)
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 Officials said they suspect al Qaeda in the explosions, which tore through three compounds housing Americans in Riyadh.
Story Tools
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(CNN) -- U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell on Tuesday condemned the "cowardly individuals" who were behind simultaneous explosions that rocked the Saudi capital, killing at least one person and hurting dozens of others.
U.S. and Saudi officials said they suspect al Qaeda in the explosions, which tore through three compounds housing Americans in Riyadh. Saudi officials said the assailants shot their way into the upscale, gated communities before setting off their explosives-laden vehicles in the apparent suicide attacks.
According to diplomatic sources, the housing complexes were Courdoval, Jedawal and The Hamra.
A fourth compound suffered collateral damage in the attacks, but there was not a fourth explosion, a senior State Department official said.
The blasts occurred about 11 p.m. [4 p.m. EDT] on the eve of a planned visit by Powell to the city. A diplomatic source said Powell's plans "remain in place."
Speaking in Amman, Jordan, Powell said the attacks "had all the earmarks" of an al Qaeda operation. He said he wants to "redouble efforts" aimed at eradicating terrorism.
Powell is scheduled to arrive Tuesday afternoon in Riyadh. He spent Monday night in Amman after spending the previous two days in Israel and the West Bank during his Mideast tour. (Full story) (Itinerary)
Official sources in Riyadh said the son of the city's deputy governor was killed in one of the blasts. U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Robert Jordan said more than 40 Americans were wounded and some Americans were killed, although he could not confirm the number of deaths.
Jordan said people of several other nationalities were also killed and wounded in the attacks.
"My heart goes out to the families of these victims of this terrible, cold-blooded attack," the ambassador told CNN's "Newsnight with Aaron Brown."
Jordan said some of the residents of the compounds were Western defense contractors, and others were advisers to the Saudi Arabia National Guard and other military units. He also said a number of non-Westerners were living in the compounds.
Three employees of Boeing Integrated Defense Systems were injured in the attacks, said company spokesman Dave Sloan in Seattle, Washington. One was taken to the hospital to get stitches for cuts he received from flying debris, and the others were treated at the scene for minor cuts, Sloan said.
The employees were at their villas about 150 feet away at the time of the blast, he said.
Boeing has 12 employees in Riyadh who serve as AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) training instructors to the Saudi Air Force.
The explosions also followed recent U.S. government warnings of possible terror attacks against Americans in the kingdom. Last week, the Saudi government issued an all-points bulletin for 19 men -- 17 of whom are Saudi citizens -- on suspicion of planning attacks. (Full story)
Shortly after the explosions, thick smoke could be seen rising from the bombed areas. The Saudi Interior Ministry issued a statement saying it had started an investigation.
A U.S. official in Washington said "initial suspicions" are that the explosions "could very well" have been an al Qaeda operation against Americans and other Westerners in Saudi Arabia.
 Powell on Tuesday condemned the "cowardly individuals" who were behind the simultaneous explosions.
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The official said the initial working hypothesis is based on three points:
• The simultaneity of the explosions, an al Qaeda hallmark
• Intelligence that led to the May 1 State Department travel warning concerning Saudi Arabia, which suggested al Qaeda was "in the final stages" of planning an attack or attacks there (Full story)
• The proximity of one of the bombed sites to the house where Saudi authorities seized explosives and weapons May 8, saying they belonged to al Qaeda
Saudi officials said they concurred that al Qaeda was likely involved.
"It's too early to tell for sure, but most of this is leading us in the direction of al Qaeda," one Saudi official told CNN.
A woman who would give only her first name -- Helen -- said she was watching television when she heard gunfire.
"Before I knew it, there was a huge explosion. The sky lit up, and I just fell to the ground. The whole villa shook -- six bedrooms, eight bathrooms. The whole house shook like a cardboard box," she said.
The Australian six-year resident of the Jedawal compound did not want her full name used because her husband works for a U.S. military contractor.
Two trucks had rammed the rear gate and exploded, littering the compound with debris, she said.
"People have been killed," she said. "For the last hour and a half, ambulances have been just pulling people out.
"This has got to be one of the worst days of my life."
Most residents of the compound, which contains 440 villas and is surrounded by a heavy metal fence and armed guards, are Americans, though some are Saudis, she said.
Suleina Nimer, a reporter for the Al Hayat newspaper, said a witness told him he saw the attackers shoot an unarmed guard at one compound, enter it and detonate the vehicle. Nimer said there were "many casualties."
In Riyadh, U.S. Embassy spokesman John Burgess said Americans live in each of the three compounds, which are within three to four miles of each other in the western suburbs of this city of 4.3 million.
Raed Qusti, bureau chief for the privately owned Arab News, said the blasts could be heard on the outskirts of the Saudi capital. He said witnesses in the area reported hearing gunfire just before the explosions.
There were no immediate reports of deaths, but an unknown number of people were injured, Qusti said. State Department officials said they had received no reports of casualties.
The blasts were "extremely powerful," Qusti said. "We're talking about blasts that would shatter windows and doors," he told CNN.
The casualties were taken to several hospitals, including King Khaled Hospital and King Fahad National Guard Hospital, where a spokesman said he could not give information on the wounded.
On May 1, the U.S. State Department warned Americans living in Saudi Arabia that "terrorist groups may be in the final phases of planning attacks against U.S. interests in Saudi Arabia.
"The Department of State warns U.S. citizens to defer non-essential travel to Saudi Arabia," it said.
U.S. officials at the time told CNN that the information on which the travel warning was based was "credible" and "al Qaeda-related." Fifteen of the 19 hijackers involved in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 were from Saudi Arabia, as is al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. (Special report)
Saudi authorities seized tons of explosives and equipment May 8 that could be used in terrorist attacks. None of the 19 men sought have been taken into custody.
U.S. officials said the house where the seizure was made is about a quarter-mile from one of the compounds attacked Monday.
A Saudi official said the material found last week was "of a very high grade" meant to inflict "maximum damage."
"They were planning something big," this official said.
Just before the U.S.-led war in Iraq began, the State Department authorized the departure of the families of staff members at the U.S. Embassy, Burgess said.
U.S. officials are working with Saudi authorities to speed the arrival of U.S. security and consular affairs officials to the scenes of the explosions.
The American School in Riyadh will not open Tuesday, and one State Department official advised U.S. citizens in the capital to "remain at home" until authorities are able to "ascertain more of the facts and the ongoing threat."
Anti-American and pro-bin Laden sentiments have been strong in some parts of the country.
Bin Laden's anger with the United States stems in part from a decision by Saudi Arabia -- home to Islam's holiest sites -- to allow U.S. troops to be stationed there during the Persian Gulf War.
After the Gulf War, the U.S. military presence became permanent. During the U.S.-led war in Iraq, the Saudis refused to allow coalition forces to attack Iraq with aircraft based in their nation.
In a major policy shift, Washington announced late last month that its U.S. Combined Air Operations Center would be moved from Saudi Arabia to nearby Qatar. (Full story)
-- CNN State Department correspondent Andrea Koppel, producer Elise Labott, national security correspondent David Ensor and Beirut bureau chief Brent Sadler contributed to this report.
.........Wow!............. we'll hafta support the Saudi government or state sponsored terrorists............
.....think it would reaLly work out that way?
Who's fooling who?
I know, and you know how it is.
It's always nice to have such friendly warnings from , well, our friends.............I have an alternate theory...............it goes something like "al-Queda" dies..........bad, too.
Why put him in direct danger? It serves no purpose. And we all know he has been in harms way more than once for his country, just this week.
You should resist such grandiose ideas.
....call me a casual observer...............;)
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Tuesday, May 13, 2003
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Hours before U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell (search) was scheduled to visit, attackers used guns and bombs to blast through three compounds housing Westerners and Saudis in Riyadh Monday night. Sixty people were injured and up to 10 feared dead, officials said.
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Hospital officials in Riyadh (search) 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.
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. that three people were confirmed dead but gave no other details.
The U.S. Embassy was working with Saudi police to determine the exact number of American casualties, embassy spokesman John Burgess told Fox News.
Burgess also said the embassy had sent out a "warden" message — through a communications system reserved for such emergencies — advising all Americans in Saudi Arabia to remain at home.
The string of attacks occurred in quick succession, capped by a fourth explosion early Tuesday morning outside the headquarters of a joint U.S.-Saudi owned company in the Saudi capital.
Secretary of State 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 Usama bin Laden's Al Qaeda (search) terrorist network. An intelligence official in Washington said information from the past two weeks indicated Al Qaeda was planning a strike in Saudi Arabia.
"(Al Qaeda) is certainly a prime suspect, I would say," Jordan said in a televised interview.
Saudi officials also have said Al Qaeda 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 (search).
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 (search) 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.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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