The Islamicists are starting to target oil exporting activities with greater frequency. If they manage to scare off enough foreign service personnel they wont need to directly destroy the oil export infrastructure.
Personnel working in Iraq, SA and Nigeria are all being killed routinely.
At Least 2 Americans Among Dead in Attack in Saudi Arabia
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 9:18 a.m. ET
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) -- Gunmen opened fire Saturday at a petrochemical facility co-owned by Exxon Mobil and the Saudi company SABIC in northwestern Saudi Arabia, killing at least six people -- two Americans, two Britons, an Australian and a Saudi, company officials and diplomats said.
Interior Ministry officials said three attackers also were killed. There was no immediate word on who was behind the shooting.
The attack killed at least two American engineers, one Australian and two Britons, according to ABB spokesman Bjorn Edlund, based in Zurich, Switzerland. He did not identify them, but said all but one of the Britons worked for his oil services company. The second Briton was a subcontractor, he said.
Two American ABB-Lummus employees were wounded in the attack, he said. He wasn't sure how many others were wounded. ABB-Lummus is the energy arm of multinational ABB engineering group.
The European diplomats, who confirmed the five Westerners had died, also said a member of the Saudi national guard was killed.
A Saudi police captain was seriously wounded, the diplomats said on condition of anonymity. A Canadian diplomat in Riyadh said two Canadian citizens also were hospitalized, but the diplomat had no details on their condition.
A U.S. Embassy official confirmed Americans were among the casualties -- though the official would not say if they were dead or wounded.
The last attack that killed Americans in Saudi was in May 2003, when eight Americans were among 34 people killed in a series of coordinated suicide bombings in the capital, Riyadh. That attack and a November assault on a housing compound that killed 17 people were blamed on the al-Qaida terror network.
Earlier this month, the United States ordered the departure of nonessential U.S. government employees and family members from Saudi Arabia and also urged private citizens to depart. The embassy had warned of ``credible indications of terrorist threats aimed at American and Western interests in Saudi Arabia.''
In London, the Foreign Office said it could not confirm British deaths, but said British diplomats were traveling to the scene.
A spokesman for Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said an Australian was believed to have been killed, but would not identify him. Embassy officials were traveling to the scene, the spokesman said.
The Saudi Interior Ministry said three suspected terrorists and several Saudis and foreigners were killed in the shooting. In its statement, the ministry did not say how many civilians were killed or injured in the attack in Yanbu, 550 miles west of Riyadh, or provide details on nationalities of the foreign casualties.
``Four individuals entered the offices of a Saudi contractor and randomly shot at Saudi and foreign employees,'' the Interior Ministry said in describing the attack in a statement quoting an unidentified official. It did not identify the contractor.
The assailants fled into residential neighborhoods of Yanbu and commandeered cars, ``but security forces were able to kill three of them and injure and capture the fourth.''
Earlier, diplomats said two suspected attackers were killed -- a bomber who blew himself up and a second suspect killed by police. The ministry statement made no mention of a suicide bombing.
The U.S. Embassy official said the U.S. consulate in the Red Sea port city of Jiddah was following up the issue with Saudi authorities. Yanbu is about 220 miles northwest of Jiddah, also along the Red Sea.
A Yanbu resident said by telephone that police had set up checkpoints throughout the city, and that some of the Westerners involved in the oil industry in Yanbu were unable to reach their workplaces because of the heavy police presence.
Saudi Arabia relies heavily on 6 million expatriate workers, including about 30,000 Americans, to run its oil industry and other sectors. The Yanbu region is home to oil refineries and petrochemical plants that employ many foreigners.
The May housing compound attack was seen as a wake-up call to Saudis of the dangers of Islamic militants at home. Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden was born and raised in the kingdom, but expelled in 1994 for agitating against the monarchy.
Saudi security forces have been hunting Islamic militants, resulting in frequent deadly clashes in recent months as they've cracked down on terror.
An American was also killed in a May 1, 2003, shooting attack at the King Abdul Aziz Naval base in Jubail, about 250 miles northeast of Riyadh. Few details about that shooting were released. The attacker, who was dressed in a Saudi navy uniform, escaped. |
