The Hindu : Riyadh vows to destroy terror cell

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, May 15, 2003

International

International

Riyadh vows to destroy terror cell

RIYADH MAY 14 . The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Abdullah, sharply vowed to `destroy' the terrorist cell that carried out four deadly bombings in Riyadh, and said the men were sinners in the eyes of Islam.

Prince Abdullah on Tuesday condemned the terrorists as "criminals, bloodthirsty, devoid of all of the Islamic values and human values" and called them `monsters.'

Referring to a number of Saudi Islamic victims in the attacks, the Crown Prince said the Koran ruled that killing a fellow `believer' of Islam would result in "hellfire and the wrath of God".

He quoted the Prophet Mohammed as saying: "He who kills a person with whom he has an agreement will not even smell the scent of paradise."

The text was released to Washington while the speech was in progress, another unusual move that indicated heightened efforts at cooperation with the U.S. war on international terrorism.

The Crown Prince reassured the country that its stability had not been undermined. ``If those killers, those criminals believe — if they believe that their criminality, bloody criminal acts will shake even one hair of the body of our nation and its unity, then they are deceiving themselves,'' he said.

He pledged that the Saudi Government and society would turn against and destroy terrorism until it can no longer "stand up again". "The country is awake, working hard to protect'' the people, he said, calling upon Saudis for help in tracking down the suspect cells.

Well-defended compound

The U.S. defence and security officials described how a group of men in two vehicles penetrated a well-defended compound on the edge of Riyadh and blew the front off a four-storey building housing U.S. defence contractor employees.

An advance party in a white Ford Crown Victoria led the attack, driving up the approach road and along the perimeter wall, towards the gate where at least four armed men were on duty at about 11.20 p.m. on Monday, they said yesterday.

First they fired six shots through the front window of a Saudi military truck posted near the gate, killing one soldier and injuring two, one official said.

``It was late and dark, so the soldiers would not necessarily be suspicious that an American car was approaching,'' the senior official told reporters.

The attackers then turned on the guard in the sentry box at the gate, killing him and pressing the button which controlled the metal gate and the barrier installed in the roadway.

``It was your typical operation. You kill the guards, you push the button, you let yourself in,'' one officer said.

``All this took 30 seconds to a minute.''

Once the gate was open and the path clear, the car pulled aside and let through a Dodge Ram truck loaded with about 200 kg of explosives of the RDX or Semtex type.

The car drove about 100 metres into the compound, turned to the left, drove another 40 metres, then right and up to the edge of the building which housed 70 unaccompanied or bachelor employees of a company, based in Fairfax, Virginia.

``They went for the spot where they do most damage. If they had stopped at the corner the blast would have dissipated down the street,'' said a senior official.

The blast left a crater about two metres deep and threw the chassis of the truck off the side, where it lay scorched.

At least 10 people were killed, including seven Americans, in just one of three attacks that night. — DPA\Reuters

Related Stories:
Powell sees Al-Qaeda's hand

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

International