| Saudi Arabia is becoming the scene of a war between Islamic militants and foreigners The international terrorist network Al-Qaeda has launched a real hunt for foreigners in Saudi Arabia in recent months. But this is the first time that journalists have become victims of militants. Yesterday, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw confirmed that as a result of an armed attack on a BBC film crew on the evening of June 6 in the Saudi capital of Riyadh, a television cameraman, 36-year-old Irishman Simon Cumbers, was killed. His partner, an English journalist and leading al-Qaeda specialist, 42-year-old Frank Gardner, was wounded four times (two bullets hit him in the stomach) and after hours of surgery is “in critical but stable condition.” The film crew's car was blocked by three vehicles with militants, the number of which is unknown. The journalists were shot at point-blank range with machine guns. Gardner survived by chance: the attackers decided that he was dead.
Saudi authorities are determined to eradicate terrorism. However, the militants escaped with impunity from the police in the Al-Suwaidi area, where the attack took place. The poor neighborhoods of Al-Suwaidi are a stronghold of al-Qaeda. By the way, its creator Osama Bin Laden is also a native of Saudi Arabia. The leader of the local al-Qaeda branch, Abdel-Aziz Al-Mukrin, and 14 other extremists from 26 wanted by the kingdom's intelligence services are also Saudis.
The BBC journalists were attacked eight days after the May 29 hostage crisis in Al-Khobar, one of the most important centers of the Saudi oil industry in the east of the country. Then 22 of the fifty hostages died. 19 were foreigners, including one Englishman. On May 1, five foreigners, including two Britons, were killed in an attack on the office of an American energy company in the western port city of Yanbu.
Terrorists in Saudi Arabia have become more active following the military operation of the United States and its allies in Iraq. Already in May 2003, al-Qaeda organized a raid on three residential complexes for foreigners in Riyadh. Then suicide bombers killed 26 people, including seven Americans and one Briton.
There are 35 thousand Americans and 30 thousand Britons living in Saudi Arabia. In total, 6 million foreigners work in the kingdom of 22 million. They are in no hurry to leave - there are good earnings there. However, since May, at least 80 people have become victims of terrorist attacks in the kingdom, mostly foreigners. During the same time, Saudi intelligence services eliminated or arrested only nine al-Qaeda members. Alexander SAMOKHOTKIN |
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