Rest In Peace!
Posted on 05/30/2004 11:44:42 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
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*At 7:15 am (0415 GMT) on Saturday, four militants arrived at Al-Khobar Petroleum Centre, believed to house offices of major Western oil firms.
The Saudi Interior Ministry said the gunmen shot at guards before entering the building and firing at employees.
*The militants left the building. The ministry said the gunmen fired on several vehicles, including one carrying four children on the way to school. It said a 10-year-old Egyptian boy was killed.
*The militants then headed to the offices of Arab Petroleum Investments Corp. The company said its British project finance manager, Michael Hamilton, was shot dead in his car at the gate of the building. Two Saudi guards were also killed at the gate.
Witnesses said Hamilton's body was dragged through the streets before being dumped near a bridge.
*The militants moved on to the Oasis housing compound and tried to storm it with a bomb-rigged car but failed as security forces chased them, the ministry said.
It said the gunmen scaled the compound walls and threatened residents during the morning rush hour.
One resident told Reuters he saw the body of a slain Swedish cook at the compound while the gunmen were questioning him.
*The gunmen fled to a building in the compound and held some 50 foreigners hostage after killing 17 people, including seven Saudi security forces, in the shooting spree, security sources said.
*Early on Sunday, Saudi commandos stormed the building and freed most of the hostages, security sources said.
A Saudi diplomat said security forces stormed the building after the militants started killing the hostages and that the bodies of nine captives were found when commandos entered the building. He said the death of the nine raised the toll to 25.
*Three of the four militants, holding hostages at gunpoint for cover, escaped the siege. The fourth, the leader of the group who is a wanted fugitive, was arrested, the ministry said.
*The ministry said the security offensive and evacuation of residents at the compound continued until early Sunday. It said 41 foreigners were rescued from a building.
It said another 201 residents, including 41 Americans and 20 Britons, who had been trapped in the compound, were evacuated.
*The ministry said a total of 22 civilians had been killed -- an American, a Briton, an Italian, a South African, a Swede, eight Indians, two Sri Lankans, three Saudis, three Filipinos and the Egyptian boy.
The ministry did not make clear if the death toll included any hostages. Its statement did not mention if there were casualties among the Saudi security forces.
It said 25 people of various nationalities were injured.
Answers the question as to how they escaped!
Stupid Muslims picked Memorial weekend to carryout their attacks aimed at terrorising Americans. They should have known that we are all at the lake/beach/farm and didn't even hear about it.
sympathetic inside help.
The turning of ones back by any security forces.
Bribery.
Incompetance.
I mean just how pathetic are the Saudis?
bump
foxnews had an interview with someone who said it has long been feared that the Saudi forces have been infiltrated...
"Three of the four militants, holding hostages at gunpoint for cover, escaped the siege"
Incompetence in spades.
fyi
Gun free zones encourage this sort of thing.
Rest In Peace!
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