NewsMax Wires
Tuesday, June 1, 2004

However, as of Monday, the three terrorists who sped away in a vehicle have not been apprehended. Only one of the four attackers was captured, but the Interior Ministry said the arrested militant, who was wounded, was the ringleader of the assault and "an important target." One of the at-large fugitives also was wounded.

In newly emerging details, the suspected al-Qaida terrorists reportedly slit the throats of nine hostages - with other terrified captives as an audience to the butchery, which was apparently triggered after a group of restaurant workers were caught trying to escape, according to a report in the New York Post.

President Bush called Crown Prince Abdullah to condemn the attack and lauded Saudi security forces for "saving many hostages," the state Saudi Press Agency reported.

Meanwhile, Saudi forces searched a hotel Monday for evidence and any explosives left behind by suspected al-Qaida militants who led the gun-firing rampage and hostage standoff in the kingdom's oil industry hub that killed 22 people, mostly foreigners.

Blood stains, glass shards, bullet holes and evidence of grenade blasts scarred the luxurious complex, said an Oasis employee who had been inside assessing damage.

"There were pools of blood. Blood is everywhere," said another member of the staff at the compound.

The attack – the worst terror attack on Saudi soil in a year, and the second targeting the oil industry in a month – started at 7:30 Saturday when at least four militants wearing military-style dress stormed the oil industry office compounds, spraying gunfire and killing 17 people, according to the AP.

The militants then moved on to the Oasis Residential Resort.

According to the Saudi Interior Ministry, the attackers initially tried to burst through the gate with an explosives-rigged car but when that failed scaled the wall.

They roamed the rambling complex sorting out Muslims from non-Muslims and confined at least 50 hostages on the sixth floor of the hotel.

Nine hostages were killed and 41 were rescued by Saudi commandos, who dropped to the roof from helicopters. Saudi security stormed the building early Sunday after learning the hostages were being harmed, said Jamal Khashoggi, an adviser to Saudi Arabia's embassy in London.

"Intervention then became necessary," he said.

Most of the dead in the 25-hour ordeal were among the 6 million expatriate workers the Saudi kingdom relies on to staff its oil industry and other sectors. They were eight Indians, three Filipinos, three Saudis, two Sri Lankans, an American, a Briton, an Italian, a Swede, a South African and a 10-year-old Egyptian boy.

Reportedly, the British victim was dragged behind a vehicle that is now in the hands of Saudi authorites, with the rope still attached to its back bumper.

An Oasis employee repeated an account from a hostage, now sequestered with authorities, who said there wasn't much shooting heard toward the end of the standoff because a deal had been reached.

The hostage said he heard a gunman tell Saudi forces, "Let us go, and we'll let the hostages go."

Security forces at first refused, but later agreed after the militants, who also threatened to blow up the building, began killing their captives.

Flee in Vehicle

An official Interior Ministry statement issued Sunday said the three militants who escaped used hostages as human shields until they fled in a vehicle, leaving the hostages behind.

A police official said Monday the attackers fled to nearby Dammam, where they abandoned the truck, commandeered a car at gunpoint and drove off with police in pursuit. They remained at large Monday.

The commandos freed 41 hostages, the Interior Ministry said. The Saudi ambassador to Britain, Turki al-Faisal, told the BBC that the bodies of nine hostages were found when forces went in.

Nizar Hijazeen, a 32-year-old Jordanian software engineer who cowered in one of the hotel's rooms throughout the ordeal, said he saw five bodies scattered around the hotel after it was over.

"All the bodies appeared to have been shot," Hijazeen said.

Diane Reed, an American woman living at the Oasis, was treated Monday at a Khobar hospital for a gunshot wound to her leg. Before the hospital's administrator and security guard ordered journalists to leave, she said, she was inside her villa when the trouble began.

"It happened very quickly. ... I heard some shots," Reed said from her hospital bed.

Twenty-five people of different nationalities were injured, and security forces evacuated 242 people from the Oasis, including residents not held hostage but trapped inside.

In a statement, U.S. Charge D'Affaires Gary Grappo thanked Saudi security forces for evacuating "a number of Americans from the Oasis compound. Their bravery saved lives and those saved, their families and the American people are most grateful."

A statement Sunday attributed to al-Qaida's chief in the Saudi region, Abdulaziz Issa Abdul-Mohsin al-Moqrin, said the violence aimed to punish the kingdom for its oil dealings with the United States and to drive "crusaders" from "the land of Islam."

Effect on Oil Markets

Most oil markets were closed Monday, but one open in Tokyo indicated traders are concerned, with crude oil futures up.

A Tokyo-based oil broker told Dow Jones Newswires that the Khobar attack fueled fears of more such violence in oil-producing nations at a time when global crude supply remains tight.

Dow Jones also reported that the attack prompted U.S. hedge funds, investment banks and speculators to sell the U.S. dollar, sending the currency to a low of 110.00 yen in Asian trading Monday.

Al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden, blamed for past terror attacks in Saudi Arabia, has vowed to destabilize the Saudi kingdom for its close ties to the United States.

A suspected al-Qaida attack on May 12, 2003, hit three Riyadh compounds housing foreigners, killing 26 people and nine suicide bombers. A high-profile crackdown on terrorists followed.

The most recent terror attack in Saudi Arabia targeted the offices of Houston-based ABB Lummus Global Inc. in the Western city of Yanbu on May 1, killing six Westerners and a Saudi.

Editor's note: