Purported al-Qaida Tape Praises Attack - kHOBAR SA

The Las Vegas Sun ^ | June 04, 2004 at 6:16:46 PDT | RAWYA RAGEH

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) - The suspected leader of al-Qaida in Saudi Arabia praised last weekend's terrorist attack that killed 22 people and the effect it had on oil prices, according to a statement he purportedly posted on the Internet.

Abdulaziz Issa Abdul-Mohsin al-Moqrin said the attack, in which Islamic militants stormed a Khobar resort and killed mostly foreign oil workers, was carried out by the "Jerusalem Squad" and amounted to a "new victory."

His statement appeared in an online periodical that seems to be linked to al-Qaida. It was dated Thursday and carried by an Islamic Web site that frequently runs militants' statements.

In the statement, whose authenticity could not be immediately verified, al-Moqrin commented on several recent attacks in Saudi Arabia, but it was unclear whether he was claiming responsibility for them. On May 14, he purportedly wrote a Web site statement in which he said al-Qaida relies on cells in Saudi Arabia that function without "organizational cohesion."

The latest statement claims the Khobar attack dealt the Saudi government a number of setbacks.

"One of them is that the oil prices soared to $42 (per barrel), the highest figure in oil history," it said. "This irks the malicious government that is committed to guaranteeing America's prosperity and the continuation of the oil flow at the cheapest prices."

In a statement allegedly from al-Moqrin on May 30, the day the overnight attack ended, he criticized the Saudi government for selling oil too cheaply to America.

Most of the victims of the Khobar attack were foreign workers in the oil industry. The attack raised fears that the flow of Saudi oil could be disrupted, and contributed to market anxiety that saw the price for U.S. crude for July delivery reach $42.33 a barrel on Tuesday - the highest price on the futures market at the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The latest statement took issue with the Saudi version of the Khobar attack on several points. It alleged U.S. Marines helped the Saudi security forces - a claim the Saudis have denied.

It also said the militants did not shoot the youngest victim, a 10-year-old Egyptian boy. It claimed he was killed by "soldiers of the tyrant who killed him through their random, confused shooting."

It denied the official Saudi account that three of the militants escaped by using hostages as human shields. The statement said the gunmen "killed all the infidels in the building and only left behind Muslims, whom they normally would not hurt."

The 22 victims included at least four Muslims - the Egyptian boy and three Saudis. The statement did not mention the slain Saudis.

Al-Moqrin praised the May 1 attack in the western Saudi city of Yanbu that killed five Westerners and a Saudi, as well as the May 22 shooting of a German outside a Riyadh bank.

Al-Moqrin also applauded what he said was the killing of two U.S. soldiers in Riyadh on Wednesday. An earlier Web statement, purportedly from al-Qaida, made the same claim.

But U.S. and Saudi officials say militants shot at two American military personnel, but missed them and wounded their Saudi driver.

Al-Moqrin heads a Saudi list of most-wanted militants. The Saudis believe he was responsible for the Nov. 8 suicide bombing of a Riyadh housing compound that killed 17 people, including the assailants.

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[Sacajaweau]

Hats off to the "Jerusalem Squad". OPEC opened the spigots!