The Saudi branch of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terror group used an Islamist Web site to claim Monday's unprecedented attack on the US consulate in the Saudi port of Jeddah, stating that some assailants had managed to flee after the operation.
"Your brothers of the squadron of the martyr Abu Annas al-Shami stormed one of the bastions of the American crusaders in the Arabian peninsula, in Jeddah," the statement said.
"They were able to withdraw from the consulate and reach a safe place, after losing two martyrs who covered the retreat of the mujahedeen, three of whom were wounded and are being treated," said the statement signed by the al-Qaeda Organization in the Arabian Peninsula.
Gunmen stormed the consulate on Monday, triggering a bloody three-hour siege and a shootout that left five staff and four attackers dead, Saudi officials said.
The brazen attack was the first of its kind on a diplomatic mission in Saudi Arabia but the latest in a series of bombings and shootings blamed on al-Qaeda in the oil-rich desert kingdom since May last year that have often targeted foreigners.
The attackers raided the Red Sea beachfront consulate compound in broad daylight in a hail of bullets and explosions that set off a fire and sent black smoke billowing into the sky.
The US temporarily closed its diplomatic offices in Saudi Arabia in the wake of the attack.
US President George W. Bush said the deadly attack showed "terrorists are still on the move" and trying to intimidate Americans.
"They want us to grow timid and weary in the face of their willingness to kill randomly, kill innocent people," Bush said.
US State Department officials said the attack appeared carefully planned.
"It's quite clear those terrorists observed our procedures for some time," Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said.
No Americans were injured in the assault or its aftermath, State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli said.
Ereli and other US officials praised Saudi forces who killed or captured the attackers.
The US embassy in Riyadh and the consulate in Dhahran were closed to the public for two days, as was the Jiddah consulate. Only emergency services for Americans will be available.
The embassy urged Americans living in Saudi Arabia to "exercise utmost security precautions."
Additional security forces were sent to Jiddah on Monday, Ereli said. He would not give more details.
Officials were concerned that an attack might be coming.
"We had indications that led us to increase the level of alert and to beef up security in Jiddah and in other areas," said Adel al-Jubeir, foreign affairs adviser to Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah.
The consulate's top diplomat was in her office when the attack began and heard the gunfire, Ereli said. All US employees were able to reach a safe area inside the compound, State Department officials said.
Earlier this year, the State Department ordered all non-emergency employees and their dependents to leave the country because of the danger of terrorists targeting US citizens.
Americans in the country were urged to depart.
In an updated warning in October, the department said that although counterterrorism efforts had been somewhat successful, terrorist groups were continuing to target housing compounds, hotels, transportation and businesses frequented by Westerners.
On Monday, Bush thanked Saudi Arabia for repelling the attack, and said, "We will find out more," about who was behind it.
Some 9,000 Americans live in the Jiddah consular district, which encompasses western Saudi Arabia from Yemen to Jordan.
Many of those Americans work for oil giant Saudi Aramco, which employs 54,000 people throughout Saudi Arabia.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was