Saudis deny they let terrorists go

RIYADH - Saudi authorities, facing mounting anger over the escape of three suspected al Qaeda militants who participated in the bloody hostage-taking at an oil company compound, vowed to catch the fugitives before they could strike again.

The Saudis denied claims made by eyewitnesses to the carnage that the three men were allowed to leave in a secret deal with security forces who had surrounded the residential compound in the Gulf city of Khobar.

In the official version, the three used some of their surviving hostages as human shields to get away as the commandos pounced.

But at least one eyewitness said the men were seen in Dammam, 9.6km north of Khobar, 2 1/2 hours before the commandos moved into the Oasis compound and released more than 200 people, including dozens of hostages who were held during the 25-hour siege.

An employee at the compound said he had been told by the hostages that the three men promised not to harm the 41 people they were holding at gunpoint if they were allowed to escape. In his account, the security forces were not initially interested in a deal but changed their minds after nine hostages were killed.

Varying accounts said the hostages were shot or had their throats cut. "There was a kind of a deal reached to let the hostages go free," the employee told Reuters.

Among those denying this allegation yesterday was the Saudi Ambassador to Britain, Prince Turki al-Faisal, who told the BBC there had been no collusion between the attackers and security forces. He echoed King Fahd in describing the attacks as "criminal acts by deviants" that would only strengthen Saudi resolve to "fight terrorism".

The exact sequence of events remained confused yesterday. Saudi officials have alluded to just four gunmen - the three who escaped and their leader, who was said to have been wounded and captured as the commandos took the compound. But eyewitnesses inside the compound have suggested that more than four people were involved.

In Dammam, a man called Sultan al-Oteibi told Agence France-Presse that the suspected al Qaeda fugitives stole his car at about 3am on Sunday local time, 2 1/2 hours before the compound siege came to an end. "Three armed men dressed in black sports gear waved guns and took my car in Dammam, where they abandoned a pick-up truck," he said.

Further accounts in Saudi newspapers and on Islamist websites suggested there might have been a mini-siege in Dammam after the three men barricaded themselves into a building in the centre of town. But the men escaped again.

Last night, oil prices jumped almost 2 per cent.

Traders fear the attack on the offices of Western companies in Khobar could be the start of a concerted al Qaeda offensive to disrupt Saudi supplies at a time when oil prices are already high enough to threaten world economic growth.

A statement purporting to come from al Qaeda claiming responsibility said it had hit "American companies ... that are specialised in oil and steal the wealth of Muslims".

While prices are still short of a recent 21-year peak of US$41.85 a barrel, Khobar served as a sharp reminder of the vulnerability of stretched global crude supplies.

Opec ministers meet this week to agree to a rise in crude supply limits of up to 2.5 million barrels a day.

THE FACE OF TERROR

Top al Qaeda leader Abdul Aziz al-Muqrin, who claimed responsibility for the Khobar attack, is a 33-year-old militant.

He has spent 16 years in the service of Osama bin Laden.

He took over as head of Gulf operations from Yemeni national Khaled Ali Haj, who was killed by police in Riyadh on March 15.

Muqrin broke off his education at the age of 17 to pursue a career as an al Qaeda fighter in Afghanistan.

He has been in Islamist groups in Algeria, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Yemen, Somalia and Afghanistan.


- INDEPENDENT, REUTERS