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Riyadh Triple Bombings Kill At Least 90: U.S.
RIYADH,
May 13 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - More than 90 people
died, including up to 12 Americans, in car bombings blamed on the
Al-Qaeda network that razed three expatriate compounds in the Saudi
capital Riyadh, U.S. officials said Tuesday, May 13.
"We
have counted more than 90 dead," one State Department official in
Washington said.
"These
are very preliminary numbers," he added, as a second official
said the death toll stood at 91 and was expected to rise.
At
least 30 and possibly as many as 44 U.S. citizens were wounded,
reported Agence France-Presse (AFP) .
The
officials, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, gave figures
significantly higher than those released shortly before by the Saudi
Interior Ministry, which said at least 29 people were killed --
including nine bombers and seven Americans -- and 194 slightly
injured.
"It
certainly has all the fingerprints of an Al-Qaeda operation,"
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said during a tour of a
devastated compound housing personnel of U.S. firm Vinnell, which
trains the Saudi National Guard headed by Crown Prince Abdullah bin
Abdul Aziz.
"It
was a well planned terrorist attack ... it was very well executed and
it shows the nature of the enemy we are working against," said
Powell, in Riyadh on a tour to push for Middle East peace.
"These
are people who were determined to penetrate places like this just for
the purpose of killing people in their sleep, killing innocent people,
killing people who had tried to help others.
"This
is criminality, terrorism at its worst, there is no justification in
any way shape or form," Powell said of the first major
anti-Western attack since the U.S.-led war on Iraq.
Shortly
after he spoke, the Saudi interior ministry announced a toll that
included seven Saudis, seven Americans, two Jordanian children, two
Filipinos, a Lebanese and a Swiss national, in addition to nine
charred bodies believed to be the attackers.
Ten
people were killed in the first explosion overnight at Al-Hamra
compound, two at Al-Jadawel compound and eight at the Vinnell complex,
the ministry said.
It
made no mention of an Australian or three Jordanian adults who
officials in Canberra and Amman claimed had been killed.
The
attacks were "suicide bombings using booby-trapped cars filled
with explosives," the ministry said.
Security
men guarding the residential compounds exchanged fire with the
bombers, which helped avoid a larger number of casualties due to the
high "quality and large quantity of explosives used," the
ministry said.
The
Al-Hamra blast claimed the life of Mohammed al-Blaihed, a 35-year-old
son of Riyadh's deputy governor Abdullah al-Blaihed, and Jihad
Dalloul, a nephew of former Lebanese defense minister Mohsen Dalloul,
as well as two Filipino workers.
The
charred bodies of four armed men were found in a car at the scene of
the attack, residents said.
The
force of the blast destroyed dozens of villas, blew the huge concrete
blocks erected to protect the compound dozens of meters (yards) away
and left a crater five meters (17 feet) deep.
"At
least 44 Americans were injured. Their wounds vary -- some are
critical, others were cut by flying glass," John Burgess,
counselor for public affairs at the U.S. embassy, told AFP.
A
British embassy spokesman said a "small number" of Britons
were lightly wounded but he could not confirm any British dead, adding
that the embassy was still checking with hospitals.
Japan,
Italy and the Netherlands each reported three of their nationals
injured, with one of the Dutch in intensive care, and a Norwegian and
a Spanish national of Venezuelan origin were also hurt.
French
Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said some French nationals were
also hurt, but he gave no details.
Al-Qaeda
Responsible
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"It
was a well planned terrorist attack ... it was very well executed and
it shows the nature of the enemy we are working against," said Powell |
Al-Qaeda
has implied it carried out the triple Riyadh bombing, in a message
received Tuesday by a Saudi weekly newspaper.
The
group had "been planning major operations for a long time in the
Gulf where it had stocked large amounts of arms and explosives,"
Al-Qaeda operative Abu Mohamed al-Ablaj wrote in an e-mail to
Al-Majallah, which is published from London.
"The
execution of this plan was not hampered by the recent announcement by
the Saudi authorities of the seizure of large quantities of arms and
explosives in the kingdom and the hunt for 19 people," said
Ablaj, alias mullah Seif Eddin.
He
described himself as the "coordinator of the Mujahedin training
center" run by al-Qaeda.
"Among
the priorities of Al-Qaeda's new strategy, besides strikes at the
heart of the United States, are operations in the Gulf countries and
countries allied to America, particularly Egypt and Jordan,"
Ablaj said.
Bin
Laden had given instructions to wage a long-term guerrilla war in the
Gulf similar to campaigns in Afghanistan and Chechnya, he said.
"These
operations will target air bases, warships, military camps every on
the Arabian peninsula and in the Gulf."
"The
Mujahedin has lists of members of the security services," he said
adding that groups of "suicide" bombers were ready to
strike.
Al-Majallah
(The Magazine), which was to print the full contents of the e-mail on
Friday, said Ablaj told it on April 7 that Al-Qaeda had completed
preparations for "a forthcoming major operation in the Gulf,
targeting the rear of the American army."
The
newspaper reported last week that Al-Qaeda was preparing a new attack
in the United States on the scale of September 11 after adopting a new
operational structure which is impenetrable to U.S. intelligence.
"An
attack against America is inevitable," Al-Majallah quoted the
network's newly-appointed spokesman Thabet bin Qais as saying in an
e-mail.
Al-Qaeda
has "carried out changes in its leadership and sidelined the
September 11, 2001 team", the paper quotes bin Qais as saying.
“Suicide
Bombers”
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A severely damaged room is seen after the bombing attack on a Westerners' compound in Riyadh |
For
his part, Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz said the
attacks were carried out by “suicide bombers” linked to the
al-Qaeda terror network.
"These
explosions were suicide bombings, which are unprecedented in the
kingdom," and are linked to the terror cell uncovered in Riyadh
last week and said to belong to al-Qaeda, he told the daily Okaz.
The
interior minister also stressed in statements to Al-Watan daily that
orders had been issued to raise the security alert throughout the vast
kingdom.
Riyadh
announced on May 7 it had uncovered an Al-Qaeda cell that planned to
carry out major attacks in the kingdom and that security forces were
hunting 17 Saudis, one Kuwaiti-Canadian of Iraqi origin and a Yemeni.
Searches
of their hideout netted a huge cache of arms, including 55 hand
grenades, 377 kilograms (829 pounds) of explosive, and 2,545 bullets
of different calibers, the interior ministry said.
Prince
Nayef said one fugitive had surrendered to security forces but
provided little information about the cell.
Saudi
Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal bin Abdul Aziz said: "It
is truly a matter of long-standing that we are waging against
terrorism."
The
U.S. embassy urged the up to 40,000 Americans residing in the kingdom
to stay at home and "away from windows and doors" and to
remain vigilant.
The
embassy and consulates were closed and Burgess said U.S. citizens
should not go to work on Tuesday.
With
anti-US sentiment running high in Saudi Arabia following the war on
Iraq, Riyadh and Washington announced in late April they were ending
the presence of some 10,000 U.S. troops, dozens of aircraft and a
state-of-the-art command and control system in the kingdom.
The
departure of U.S. forces from the kingdom, home to Islam's holiest
sites, was the main demand of bin Laden, who is accused of
masterminding the September 11, 2001 terror attacks on the United
States carried out by 19 hijackers, including 15 Saudis.
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