Yet another terrorist attack
Quote:
Qaeda killers of 22 elude Saudi military
By DAVE GOLDINER
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Saudi special forces patrol outside luxury compound, where 22 people were slain by Islamist terrorists in the gulf city of Khobar. The alleged ringleader was caught but the other three killers escaped.
Survivors revealed the full horror of the barbaric rampage at a luxury Saudi Arabia housing complex, recounting last night how marauding Islamic radicals slit the throats of hostages in a daylong reign of terror.
Crack Saudi commandos ended the 25-hour ordeal but three of the four suspected Al Qaeda terrorists escaped and are now on the run.
Freed hostages said they watched in horror as the killers, who were dressed in Saudi military garb, summarily executed nine captives who tried to escape overnight from an exclusive residential compound in Khobar.
"The nine had their throats cut by the kidnappers when they tried to escape at night by the stairs," Jordanian computer engineer Nijar Hijazin said as authorities pulled bodies from the complex.
One American, whose name was not released, and a British oil exec were among the 22 people killed by the terrorists. Seven Saudi soldiers also were killed. Among the wounded was a U.S. woman who was shot in the legs as she fled.
Al Qaeda claimed credit for the carnage in a message posted on several Arab Internet sites, vowing to rid the birthplace of Islam of "infidels."
The 25 hours of hell started Saturday morning, when four terrorists stormed two oil company offices near the residential complex, shooting and killing about 10 victims, including the American.
British oil executive Michael Hamilton was shot dead as he drove to his office. Terrorists tied his corpse to a car and dragged the 62-year-old father of two through the streets before dumping him near a bridge.
A 10-year-old Egyptian boy died when a bullet hit the gas tank of the car he was riding in, causing it to burst into flames.
Security sources said the four terrorists hoped to crash an explosives-laden car into the expensive gated Oasis complex, which boasts its own spas, pastry shop and even an ice skating rink.
When that failed, they jumped walls and combed the complex for hostages, taking care to target only non-Muslims.
"It does not take much to come into a building with a rifle and shoot innocent people," said Nail al-Jubeir, a spokesman for the Saudi Embassy in the U.S., comparing the attack to a drive-by shooting.
But it was unclear what armed guards at the supposedly secure complex were doing or why Saudi cops and troops did not respond more quickly.
Abdul Salam al-Hakawati, a 38-year-old Lebanese corporate financial officer, said gunmen burst into his home but decided to leave when they spotted framed verses from the Koran.
"We only want to hurt Westerners and Americans," one attacker told him. "Can you tell us where we can find them here?"
An Iraqi-American engineer said the terrorists forced him to show identity papers to prove he was Muslim, then politely apologized for invading his home.
"The encounter was very painful," said the engineer, who gave his name as Abu Hashem. "Islam does not sanction this."
Barricaded in his hotel room, an Indian businessman looked through the peephole - and saw terrorists holding two guns to a staffer's head.
He hid under the bed for hours, praying to survive the ordeal.
"I could hear the clink-clank of grenades, as they rolled on the tiles before exploding," said Baskar Benkataramani, 44, a computer project manager.
The terrorists herded about 50 captives into a tall building in the complex, which boasts 200 villas and 250 apartments set amid landscaped grounds, fountains, pools and watered gardens.
Some hostages were freed during the night but others met a grisly fate when they tried to run for it.
Hazem Al-Damen said he saw the bodies of an Italian and a Swede, both of whom worked as cooks in a restaurant at the compound.
"Their throats [had been] cut in one of the bathrooms," said a shaken Al-
Damen, who is Jordanian.
When the terrorists dumped a body out the window early yesterday, Saudi security forces apparently decided they had to take action to end the standoff.
Dozens of commandos dropped from a helicopter onto the roof of a building and rushed in to free the hostages.
"The security forces stormed the building when they started killing hostages," said Jamal Khashoggi, an adviser to Saudi Arabia's embassy in London.
The hotel's interior was a scene of carnage: broken doors and smashed glass, with blood stains on the floor and walls.
Saudi security forces, who flashed thumbs-up signs after ending the siege, said the three terrorists escaped by holding hostages at gunpoint for cover.
Nimr al-Baqmi, whom Saudis described as the ringleader of the militants, was wounded and captured.
Saudi Army and police set up nationwide checkpoints to search for the three killers who escaped.
Critics were shocked that Saudi security failed to stop the attack or nab the terrorists.
"It's very difficult to understand how three of four terrorists could escape," Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) told the Daily News. "Given the Saudis' past ambivalence about fighting terrorism, there are a whole lot of questions."
Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) said Saudi support for religious madrassa schools - that teach a radical form of Islam - is partly to blame for the terror attacks.
"Out of these schools come young Saudis who join these militant organizations," he told "Fox News Sunday."
The past 12 months have seen a shocking upsurge in terror attacks in the Saudi kingdom.
2003
May 12 - Car bomb attacks carried out by nine suicide bombers kill 26 civilians.
June 14 - Raid in Mecca kills five terrorists, two cops.
July 28 - Raid at remote farm kills six militants, two cops.
Sept. 23 - Raid in southern town of Jizan ends with three suspects dead.
Nov. 3 - Cops find huge weapons cache after clashes in Mecca kill two terrorists.
Nov. 8 - Suicide bombing at Riyadh housing compound kills 17, most of them foreign Muslims working in Saudi Arabia.
2004
Jan. 29 - Five cops killed in Riyadh shootout. More clashes in Mecca; two militants killed.
April 21 - Five people, including two cops and an 11-year-old girl, are killed along with the suicide bomber in attack on government building in Riyadh.
May 1 - Shooters storm offices of Houston-based ABB Lummus Global Inc. in Yanbu, killing six Westerners and a Saudi. All four attackers killed in a subsequent shootout.
May 20 - Saudi security forces clash with suspected Islamic militants outside Buraida, a fundamentalist stronghold near Riyadh. Four suspects killed.
News Wire Services
Originally published on May 31, 2004
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I guess we are some of you out there will still say we should all try to 'understand' where these animals are coming from.
I for one would like to line these monsters up who did this & have a firing squad rid us of the disease they bring to this world.
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