Sparrowhawk
12-06-04, 09:35 AM
Let's contact the news reporter about this and let him know what the reaction here is like because of this.
The Saudi's are at fault, as nothing, NOTHING happens int hat country without some sort of approval and support from money bag Arabs and government officials there.
"It wasn't known if any of the U.S. Marine guards took part in the gun battle"
Cook
<hr>
8 die as US Consulate attacked
CBC News - 51 minutes ago
JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA - Eight people died, several more were injured and about 18 others were taken hostage Monday when gunmen attacked the US Consulate in the Saudi city of Jeddah.
Dec. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Saudi security forces took control of the U.S. Consulate in the country's second-largest city, Jeddah, after the mission was attacked by gunmen, the Saudi Interior Ministry said in a statement.
Three attackers were killed, and two others wounded and captured, according to the statement on the state-run Saudi Press Agency. Four Saudi guards died and local staff were taken hostage during the siege, the Associated Press said. Several Americans suffered minor injuries, AP said.
``The situation was brought under control,'' the Saudi statement said. It didn't specify who was responsible for the attack, which began at 11 a.m. local time and lasted three hours.
``All U.S. personnel are accounted for,'' embassy spokesman Andrew Mitchell said by telephone from Riyadh. ``There are unconfirmed reports that two local staff have been injured.''
The attack is the first against a U.S. mission in the kingdom, the world's largest oil producer, since militants with suspected al-Qaeda links stepped up a campaign of violence in May to kill Westerners and undermine the ruling al-Saud family. At least 34 foreigners, including six Americans and 12 other Westerners, have been killed since May 1.
`Termites of Terrorism'
``This is further evidence that the termites of terrorism are still gnawing away at the fabric of Saudi Arabia,'' Anthony Harris, a former U.K. ambassador to the neighboring United Arab Emirates, said in a telephone interview.
``If these people can attack a heavily defended U.S. mission, then it shows that no western target is invulnerable,'' Harris said in Dubai.
Saudi police engaged the attackers at the consulate, Carol Kalin said by telephone. It wasn't known if any of the U.S. Marine guards took part in the gun battle, AP said. Sudanese nationals may have been among the injured, Al Arabiya reported, without saying how it got the information.
The embassy in Riyadh, and the consulate in Dhahran, on Saudi Arabia's Persian Gulf coast, have been closed as a precaution, Kalin said. The U.S. Embassy in the kingdom was located in Jeddah until it was moved to Riyadh in 1984.
The Saudi Arabian government has been cracking down on militants with suspected links to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network. Last December it issued a list of 26 suspected terrorist and about 16 of them have been killed or captured, according to the London-based risk forecasting company, Exclusive Analysis.
``The Saudis have been doing a lot to apprehend militants,'' said Turi Munthe, head of the Middle East program at the Royal United Services Institute, a London military consultant that counts the U.K. Ministry of Defense among its clients. ``They will have to continue to do that but my feeling is that this won't destabilize the government.''
`Bloody Campaign'
One of the suspects on the most-wanted list, Saud bin Hamoud al-Otaibi, was named al-Qaeda's new leader in the kingdom, according to messages posted on the Internet on Nov. 2, including Al-Jihad, an al-Qaeda-linked online magazine.
``After the message of Nov. 2 that appeared to say that al- Qaeda was regrouping, it seemed inevitable that there would be an attack against Western interests,'' said Sajjan Gohel, expert in international terrorism at the London-based Asia-Pacific Foundation, in a telephone interview. ``This could be the start of a very bloody campaign.''
Crude oil rose from a three-month low as OPEC officials said output should be reduced to comply with quotas and as Nigerian militants shut down about 4 percent of production from Africa's largest oil exporter.
Crude for January delivery rose 49 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $43.03 a barrel in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 9:11 a.m. London time. It's down 23 percent from an intraday record of $55.67 on Oct. 25. There was little impact on the dollar, which traded at $1.3436 per euro.
Mansour al-Turki, a spokesman for the Saudi Ministry of Interior, didn't answer his telephones when contacted by Bloomberg.
To contact the reporter on this story:
James Cordahi, in Dubai on at cherifcord@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Tim Coulter at tcoulter@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: December 6, 2004 08:51 EST
The Saudi's are at fault, as nothing, NOTHING happens int hat country without some sort of approval and support from money bag Arabs and government officials there.
"It wasn't known if any of the U.S. Marine guards took part in the gun battle"
Cook
<hr>
8 die as US Consulate attacked
CBC News - 51 minutes ago
JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA - Eight people died, several more were injured and about 18 others were taken hostage Monday when gunmen attacked the US Consulate in the Saudi city of Jeddah.
Dec. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Saudi security forces took control of the U.S. Consulate in the country's second-largest city, Jeddah, after the mission was attacked by gunmen, the Saudi Interior Ministry said in a statement.
Three attackers were killed, and two others wounded and captured, according to the statement on the state-run Saudi Press Agency. Four Saudi guards died and local staff were taken hostage during the siege, the Associated Press said. Several Americans suffered minor injuries, AP said.
``The situation was brought under control,'' the Saudi statement said. It didn't specify who was responsible for the attack, which began at 11 a.m. local time and lasted three hours.
``All U.S. personnel are accounted for,'' embassy spokesman Andrew Mitchell said by telephone from Riyadh. ``There are unconfirmed reports that two local staff have been injured.''
The attack is the first against a U.S. mission in the kingdom, the world's largest oil producer, since militants with suspected al-Qaeda links stepped up a campaign of violence in May to kill Westerners and undermine the ruling al-Saud family. At least 34 foreigners, including six Americans and 12 other Westerners, have been killed since May 1.
`Termites of Terrorism'
``This is further evidence that the termites of terrorism are still gnawing away at the fabric of Saudi Arabia,'' Anthony Harris, a former U.K. ambassador to the neighboring United Arab Emirates, said in a telephone interview.
``If these people can attack a heavily defended U.S. mission, then it shows that no western target is invulnerable,'' Harris said in Dubai.
Saudi police engaged the attackers at the consulate, Carol Kalin said by telephone. It wasn't known if any of the U.S. Marine guards took part in the gun battle, AP said. Sudanese nationals may have been among the injured, Al Arabiya reported, without saying how it got the information.
The embassy in Riyadh, and the consulate in Dhahran, on Saudi Arabia's Persian Gulf coast, have been closed as a precaution, Kalin said. The U.S. Embassy in the kingdom was located in Jeddah until it was moved to Riyadh in 1984.
The Saudi Arabian government has been cracking down on militants with suspected links to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network. Last December it issued a list of 26 suspected terrorist and about 16 of them have been killed or captured, according to the London-based risk forecasting company, Exclusive Analysis.
``The Saudis have been doing a lot to apprehend militants,'' said Turi Munthe, head of the Middle East program at the Royal United Services Institute, a London military consultant that counts the U.K. Ministry of Defense among its clients. ``They will have to continue to do that but my feeling is that this won't destabilize the government.''
`Bloody Campaign'
One of the suspects on the most-wanted list, Saud bin Hamoud al-Otaibi, was named al-Qaeda's new leader in the kingdom, according to messages posted on the Internet on Nov. 2, including Al-Jihad, an al-Qaeda-linked online magazine.
``After the message of Nov. 2 that appeared to say that al- Qaeda was regrouping, it seemed inevitable that there would be an attack against Western interests,'' said Sajjan Gohel, expert in international terrorism at the London-based Asia-Pacific Foundation, in a telephone interview. ``This could be the start of a very bloody campaign.''
Crude oil rose from a three-month low as OPEC officials said output should be reduced to comply with quotas and as Nigerian militants shut down about 4 percent of production from Africa's largest oil exporter.
Crude for January delivery rose 49 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $43.03 a barrel in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 9:11 a.m. London time. It's down 23 percent from an intraday record of $55.67 on Oct. 25. There was little impact on the dollar, which traded at $1.3436 per euro.
Mansour al-Turki, a spokesman for the Saudi Ministry of Interior, didn't answer his telephones when contacted by Bloomberg.
To contact the reporter on this story:
James Cordahi, in Dubai on at cherifcord@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Tim Coulter at tcoulter@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: December 6, 2004 08:51 EST