Posted on 06/02/2004 7:49:50 AM PDT by Valin
ALKHOBAR, 2 June 2004 — With the worst now over and the body count completed, the injured are being treated and the traumatized hostages are working hard to bring their lives back to normal.
The security forces are on high alert throughout the country to make sure that there is no repetition of “Black Saturday” while the hunt continues for the escaped terrorists.
An overview of the chain of events that started Saturday morning and ended with the release of hostages on Sunday morning, finds several questions unanswered.
It is confirmed that the first attack came at 7.25 a.m. on Saturday at the APICORP Compound where four people died, including a 10-year-old Egyptian boy. It is also confirmed that there were four attackers who sprayed bullets all around the area. Barely 20 minutes later the Petroleum Center came under attack, once again by four terrorists. The distance between APICORP and Petroleum Center is about three kilometers. It is also worth mentioning that the APICORP attackers who dragged the body of the Briton, Michael Hamilton, were intercepted at the Sports City by police and there was an exchange of fire.
The first question is: Were the attackers at the compound and the Petroleum Center the same?
The residents of the Oasis housing complex have cited the time of their attack as 7.45. That means that when attackers were shooting at the Petroleum Center, the attack was already in progress at Oasis.
That raises another question: Who were the attackers at the Oasis Compound?
Another set of questions emerges from the events inside the Oasis Compound and the execution of the hostages. It has been established that inside the restaurant where the attackers kept their hostages captive there was not a single American or Briton. It has also been confirmed that there were mainly Indians, Bangladeshis, Lebanese, Jordanians, Filipinos, a Swede and an Italian.
Al-Qaeda, which accepted responsibility for the attack on Alkhobar, has throughout its campaign vociferously expressed its opposition to the United States and its policies. Immediately after the Alkhobar attack, it issued a statement saying its intention was “to teach lessons to America” and make sure that “the Arabian Peninsula was free of American infidels.”
The course of events in Alkhobar, however, showed that the attackers were systematically killing menial workers, most of them Asians. For example, an Indian plumbing supervisor was shot in the head, and a Sri Lankan maintenance man and a Filipino chef were also executed. These menial workers were in no way supportive of America’s stand on Palestine nor did they support the American action in Iraq.
On the contrary, the seven Indians who were killed inside the compound belonged to a country which was among the first to accord recognition to the state of Palestine. Not only this, India also expressed its concern over the American invasion of Iraq and refused to send “peace-keeping” forces to Baghdad. Why, then, were the Indians targeted?
One statement from Al-Qaeda said that the Indians were killed in retaliation for the killings in Kashmir. Does that mean that Al-Qaeda has expanded its operation and intends to attack everyone, anywhere and everywhere?
The Religious Policeman
A Saudi man's diary of life in the "Magic Kingdom", where the Religious Police ensure that everything remains as it was in the Middle Ages.
http://muttawa.blogspot.com/
Wednesday, June 02, 2004Saudi Elite Forces capture Terrorists
Well, only one actually. Three others escaped, as they always do, because that is how it is foretold in the old prophesy from the Sage of Riyadh
"Tho' many be surrounded,
and the surrounding be complete,
all shall escape
but the one with bad feet".
I've now seen the footage of their assault on the building in Alkhobar, getting out of the helicopter. Well I must have missed a bit, when they first threw out their Zimmer frames. I thought it was absolutely scandalous. I was always taught that it was good manners to help infirm or old people out of a vehicle. Yet there they were, having to struggle out of that chopper all by themselves, nobody to lend a hand, poor old dears. Suppose one of them dropped their teeth on the ground - with their eyesight, they could spend all day looking. I thought for a moment that I'd spotted my old Grandmother, I thought "She'll kick the sh*t out of those terrorists, no trouble", but sadly she was snoozing in the next room. It's a good job there was an invalid elevator fitted in that building, otherwise they'd still be up on the roof even now.
There are many theories as to how the three escaped, and indeed whether they departed hours before the helicopter appeared. The Riyadh "Arab News", whose brave investigative journalism sends shudders of fear thru the Saudi ruling elite, notes that
Attacks Leave Many Questions Unanswered
ALKHOBAR, 2 June 2004 — With the worst now over and the body count completed, the injured are being treated and the traumatized hostages are working hard to bring their lives back to normal.
The security forces are on high alert throughout the country to make sure that there is no repetition of “Black Saturday” while the hunt continues for the escaped terrorists.
However, although they pose the question "Were the attackers at the compound and the Petroleum Center the same?", their curiosity does not stretch to asking "How did three terrorists, presumably soaked in the blood of their victims, completely surrounded by three rings of security troops in a medium-sized apartment building, vanish completely into the night (or day)?". But there are limits to the curiosity of the average "Arab News" journalist. He still thinks that babies happen when ladies take their veils off.
Nevertheless, the following captured Al Qaeeda document may give some clues. It is part of their Training Manual.
"Chapter 17. Evading Capture.
Scenario: You are completely surrounded by Saudi Arabia's Finest. As you are exiting by a back staircase, you run into an entire platoon of these fierce menacing killers.
Response: One of the following phrases will normally suffice -
"They went that-a-way"
"What? Us, terrorists? I ask you, do we look Jewish?"
"If you don't let us go we'll -
- scream and scream 'til we're sick /
- wet our pants /
- poo our pants"
"My Daddy is bigger than your Daddy and he'll beat you all up"
"Hey, Ali How you doing? Yea, we got rostered as Duty Terrorists today, what a bummer! See you down the Social Club tonite?"
"OK, fellas, you know the routine. One of us gets taken, the rest go. Eeny-meeny-miney-mo....."
"Hi guys, we'd like to stick around, but we're due for cocktails at Uncle Nayif's this evening. Let's do lunch sometime!"
"Let me hold your gun for a minute while you try this shawarma"
"You can open fire on us but first we have to agree the rules" (They won't have seen "Butch Cassidy" - too violent)
"Let us go or we blow up the building!" (holding imaginary detonator in hand and pointing at imaginary explosive - we said they were fierce, we never said they were bright)
"Boo"
Uh, that's been their M.O. all along. How many foreign nationals, women, children, Muslims, etc. died on 9/11 or, for that matter, in Kenya and Tanzania and continue to die in Afghanistan and Iraq as the "collateral damage" of their attacks, both suicide and otherwise? They aren't very picky about who they kill and hopefully the Muslim world is starting to notice that.
"The manhunt continues!" Yes, didn't OJ say the same thing about looking for the killer of Nicole Simpson?
Does that mean that Al-Qaeda has expanded its operation and intends to attack everyone, anywhere and everywhere?
My nomination for the clueless statement of the day.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.