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Al-Qaida men kills 9 Saudis, 7 foreigners Pak eases curbs on
A.Q. Khan
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13 tribal chiefs arrested
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Al-Qaida men kills 9 Saudis, 7 foreigners
Khobar, May 29 Saudi security sources said an American, a Briton, an Egyptian, two Filipinos, an Indian and a Pakistani died in the attacks on foreigners’ compounds in the eastern city of Khobar, along with two Saudi civilians and seven security personnel. “I can confirm the death of at least one American. There may be more,” a US Embassy official said. The Saudi forces later stormed a housing compound where the militants had taken the hostages. Forces cordoned off the area and evacuated many civilians. Shooting could be heard in the area. A Saudi Interior Ministry statement confirmed four gunmen had stormed an oil company and housing compounds. A statement, purportedly from Osama bin Laden’s Al-Qaida network, posted on Islamist websites claimed the responsibility for the attacks. The group blamed for the September 2001 attacks on the United States has vowed to destabilise the US-allied monarchy and the world’s leading oil exporter. Witnesses said a body had been dragged through the streets, apparently by militants, in the third attack against foreigners in less than a month in the birthplace of Islam. Al-Arabiya aired footage of a man with Western features, slumped in his car, apparently shot dead by the gunmen. It showed a charred car and a third blood-spattered vehicle. The attack came two days after the top Al-Qaida leader in the kingdom, Abdulaziz al-Muqrin, issued a battle plan for urban guerrilla war, specifying steps militants needed to take to topple the royal family. In today’s spree, militants opened fire at the Al-Khobar Petroleum Centre building, believed to house offices of major western oil firms, before storming into the compounds housing oil services offices and homes of employees working there, security sources said. Witnesses said two cars with military markings drove into the Apicorp Complex where militants shot dead a child. The gunmen, in military uniforms, also went into the Rami and Oasis housing compounds, where they took a number of people, including five Lebanese, hostage. Lebanon later said its citizens had been released. Some employees working for Shell Honeywell and General Electric lived in one of the compounds. The five-star Oasis residence has housed executives from oil majors, Royal Dutch/Shell, Total and LUKOIL, who are carrying out gas projects.
“Gunmen are still on the loose. People are staying in their homes, keeping their heads down. Nobody can give a final figure on the deaths,” a Western diplomat said. The attack in the main Saudi oil-producing region came a week after Saudi Arabia pledged to hike oil output to stabilise spiralling prices, and ahead of an OPEC meeting next week. The security forces have arrested or gunned down at least eight of the country’s 26 most wanted militants, but their defiance of the crackdown has raised questions about security.
De facto ruler Crown Prince Abdullah has pledged to hunt down militants for “decades”, if needed. — Reuters
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Pak test-fires Ghauri missile Islamabad, May 29 “Pakistan today carried out a successful test fire of its indigenously developed medium-range ballistic missile Hatf-5 (Ghauri),” Pakistani military spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan said. “The test was aimed at improving the technical parameters of missile system. There is no other objective of the test,” he said. General Sultan said the missile, which can carry all kinds of warheads, hit the target at the range of 900 km. It is Pakistan’s first missile test after the new government took over in India. “According to the data collected from the test all design parameters have been successfully validated”, General Sultan said without disclosing the area where the test was conducted. The missile test was witnessed by Pakistan Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Jamali, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Aziz Khan and other top military officials, he said. General Sultan said neighbouring countries were given advance information about the test in accordance with the laws.
— PTI |
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Islamabad, May 29 “ Mr Khan, known as the father of the Islamic bomb, for his contribution to Pakistan’s nuclear programme has been allowed to go out of his house in protective custody for one hour a day and meet his family members”, local daily ‘Dawn’ said quoting officials. It said that the daughter of Mr Khan, her children, and other members of his family had also been allowed to meet him once a day for one hour. Mr Khan, who was subsequently pardoned by President Pervez Musharraf after confessing transferring nuclear technology to different countries in violation of the international ban on nuclear proliferation, has been provided with regular medical facilities.
— PTI |
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Islamabad, May 29 “These elders were arrested on Saturday morning after the tribesmen failed to take action against the foreign militants despite repeated reminders by the government”, a local tribesman Allah Noor told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa. The elders or maliks were trying to broker peace between the government and tribesmen and had been instrumental in an April 24 peace deal, struck between the two parties at Shakai in South Waziristan. According to the deal, the government had pardoned five pro Al-Qaida militants in return for a pledge that they would not indulge in activities against Pakistan and Afghanistan.
— DPA |
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