‘Gunmen in Khobar given safe passage’
RIYADH: The Saudi authorities gave safe passage to three suspected al-Qaeda gunmen after they killed 10 of the hostages they were holding at a hotel in the oil hub of Khobar, a senior security official said.
The official, speaking on Wednesday on condition of anonymity, said that upon hearing hostages had been killed, US officials advised the Saudis that letting the militants go would avert a bigger catastrophe.
The escape of the three gunmen, who killed 22 people in a shooting rampage that began on Saturday at two oil industry office compounds and ended 25 hours later at the compound, has stunned Saudis and expatriates. Many are wondering how the militants could have slipped away in an area bristling with hundreds of troops.
The US Embassy did not have immediate comment of the Saudi official’s account, which dovetailed with witness accounts. Officially, the Saudi Interior Ministry has said the three used hostages as human shields to escape Saudi commandos on early Sunday and that a fourth attacker, said to be the ringleader, was injured and captured.
The official said the three walked away at about 2:20 am on Sunday. At 5:30 am, about 80 commandos landed on the roof of the hotel and soon after began knocking on hotel doors to tell people they were free to leave. |
