The Hindu : Riyadh admits to security shortcomings

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, May 16, 2003

International

International

Riyadh admits to security shortcomings

RIYADH May 15 . Saudi Arabia today insisted that ``foreign hands'' were behind suspected Al- Qaeda suicide bombers who killed at least seven Americans, having admitted security `shortcomings' following unprecedented U.S. criticism.

FBI agents were due to join the investigation into Monday's triple car bombings that devastated Riyadh compounds housing mainly foreigners, killing at least 34 people including the Americans.

Saudi Arabia, birthplace of the Al-Qaeda leader, Osama bin Laden, admitted to security lapses as the White House told the oil-rich Arab state that it must ``deal with the fact that it has terrorists inside its own country''.

The U.S. ambassador to Riyadh had also criticised Saudi Arabia for not responding swiftly enough to earlier U.S. demands for tighter security at the targeted complexes.

U.S. wardens also said the Ambassador, Robert Jordan, had urged dependants to leave the kingdom, saying: ``This (Saudi Arabia) is a front in the war against terrorism. Women and children don't belong on the battlefield.''

Some 40,000 Americans live in Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter.

The Saudi Interior Minister, Prince Nayef, vowed tougher security measures and said the fingerprints of the Al-Qaeda could be seen all over the attacks, the first major strike at U.S. targets since the United States waged war on Iraq.

``Foreign hands supported the attacks. This is clear from the identity of the terrorists who have received training in Afghanistan from Al-Qaeda,'' he told the Arab News newspaper.

The Saudi Foreign Minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, vowed to find those behind the bombings and said the Al-Qaeda would regret it.

He also admitted Saudi security measures could have been better but denied the kingdom had not acted on U.S. warnings of an imminent terror attack against Westerners.

``The fact that terrorism happened is an indication of shortcomings, and we have to learn from our mistakes and seek to improve our performance in this respect,'' he told a news conference last night.

``Whoever did this will regret it because they have unified this country's determination to extract this cancer (terrorism) and ensure that it doesn't return.''

The United States also has strong suspicions that the Al-Qaeda, which it blames for the September, 11, 2001 attacks on American cities, was behind Monday's explosions. A team of FBI agents was on standby in Germany for Saudi approval to head to the kingdom.

In Washington, U.S. officials said an envoy of the U.S. President, George W. Bush, had travelled to Riyadh shortly before the bombings to convey U.S. fears about an imminent attack. — Reuters

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