Allah Akbar!!
Posted on 06/01/2004 1:20:09 AM PDT by sarcasm
Saudi commandos cut a deal to let Al Qaeda terrorists escape and stage-managed a dramatic "rescue" of dozens of hostages at a luxury housing complex, survivors and witnesses allege. One former hostage said he overheard the militants working to cut a deal with Saudi security forces that cordoned off the complex early Sunday. "Let us go and we'll let the hostages go," one of the hostage-takers told Saudi authorities, the survivor said. Security forces first refused, but agreed after the militants began slitting the throats of their helpless captives. The terrorists escaped the complex, then eluded security forces again when they commandeered a car in the nearby town of Dammam and got away. That carjacking took place at 3 a.m. local time Sunday, meaning the three terrorists were long gone by the time Saudi commandos, in a dramatic display, dropped from helicopters and supposedly freed the foreign hostages. The only suspect captured in the raid was Nimr Al-Bigami, who was wounded and is in a coma. Saudi security officials have refused to elaborate on the daylong hostage drama in which 22 foreigners, including one American, were killed. But one security source pointedly sidestepped the issue of whether the three Islamic militants were allowed to flee. "Our main priority was the hostages," the source said. A day after the siege ended, secretive Saudi officials were still trying to keep survivors away from reporters. There also were new questions about how the four terrorists, if they were acting alone, could have pulled off the spectacular 25-hour killing spree. The attackers first struck an oil office and killed nine people, then dragged a British oilman's body through the streets. Somehow, the same four still managed to gather dozens of hostages in the elite Oasis housing complex, where they killed several more before fleeing. "The whole confidence in their security apparatus is getting lower and lower as we speak," said Tim Ripley, an Arab expert at Britain's Lancaster University. "That part of Saudi Arabia is the most strategic in terms of oil reserves in the world, and the seeming inability of the Saudis to control it will be making lots of people nervous." The British ambassador warned British citizens to leave yesterday and said more terror strikes were imminent. The U.S. already had urged Americans to leave. Meanwhile, oil traders were bracing for a jump in prices when markets reopen today after the long weekend. Oil futures rose 2.3% in Tokyo this morning, and in early electronic trades, the price-per-barrel soared back past $40.
"... I pleaded with the Saudis to take him [bin Laden], but they refused..."
Like I've always said, the Saudis generally are scared of bin Laden and al qaida. The only reason their government ever did anything for him was ransom and tribute to stay away. He could have won a civil war there. Lucky for the Saudis, his attention was drawn more to foreign countries than his home.
Allah Akbar!!
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Saudi commandos cut a deal to let Al Qaeda terrorists escape and stage-managed a dramatic "rescue" of dozens of hostages at a luxury housing complex
Quick, al-Qerry, make the Great General Clark-bar your VP! He thought of the idea of using Saudi commandos before using Saudi commandos was cool!
Clark Proposes Joint Venture With Saudis Against Al Qaeda:
ANOVER, N.H., Nov. 12 [2003] — Gen. Wesley K. Clark sharply criticized the Bush administration on Wednesday for failing in the hunt for Osama bin Laden and proposed deployment of a joint American-Saudi Arabian commando force to search the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region for the Qaeda terrorist organization.
Go, Clark! Go, Clark! Go, Clark!
Way to call 'em, General Schmuck-bar!
Special notice to the mainstream press: this story is not good for demonrats, so please don't report it.
There's little doubt the Saudi security forces are compromised by Al Qaeda sympathizers. This looks like a pre-arranged deal. Support for Bin Laden among certain factions of the Saudi royal family may be deeper than people think.
With each step they take the Saudis disgust me more.
If you fail to realize the Saudis are largely the problem you will lose.
"Saudis let thugs go" -- exactly what I thought when I heard they got away.
they got a car in Dammam???This is a long ways off...
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