Saudi Al Qaeda web statement urges attacks on oil facilities

DUBAI - An Internet statement purportedly from the Saudi wing of al Qaeda has urged guerrillas to attack oil facilities in the world's biggest crude exporter.

"We call on all the mujahideen in the Arabian Peninsula to unify their ranks... and target the oil supplies that do not serve the Islamic nation but the enemies of this nation," said the statement from the Al Qaeda Organisation in the Arabian Peninsula, which was dated December 18.

Its authenticity could not be immediately verified.

The statement also urged militants to strike at "all foreign targets, until the Arabian Pensinsula is free of these infidels and the tyrants".

The statement comes after al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, in an audio tape posted on the Internet on Thursday, urged fighters loyal to his network to strike Gulf and Iraqi oil facilities, saying it was the most powerful weapon against the United States of America.

"Be active and prevent them from getting hold of our oil and concentrate your operates on it (oil), in particular in Iraq and in the Gulf," said the speaker on the tape.

Saudi Arabia is battling a 19-month wave of violence by supporters of bin Laden's al Qaeda movement. Gunmen have killed foreigners in the Red Sea petrochemical hub of Yanbu and the oil city of al-Khobar but there have been no reports of direct attacks on oil facilities.

There was no immediate response from state-owned oil giant Saudi Aramco to the latest al Qaeda statement, but the firm said on Saturday it remained "on alert at all times" to secure the world's biggest oilfields.

- REUTERS