U.S. Embassy in Riyadh Issues New Warning Citing Evidence of "Operational Planning" for Terrorist Attacks in Saudi Arabia

By Evan Kohlmann

The U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia has issued a statement advising American citizens living in the Kingdom that it has "received indications of operational planning for a terrorist attack or attacks in the Kingdom."  The statement conceded that U.S. authorities have no "specific information concerning timing, target or method of any possible attack(s)"; however, it also noted that "[i]n the past, terrorist groups have targeted housing compounds and other establishments where Westerners may be located. Saudi Government facilities have also been targets. In addition to car bombs and armed assaults involving multiple gunmen against such facilities, terrorists have used ambush attacks to kidnap and/or assassinate individual Westerners."

This new warning comes directly in the wake of several major gunbattles between Al-Qaida operatives and Saudi security forces that have cost the lives of numerous top terrorist commanders--including most recently Moroccan Younis Mohammed Ibrahim al-Hayari, who was killed during a counterterrorism raid in Riyadh at dawn on July 3.  The terror warning from the U.S. embassy also follows only weeks after the publication of a new communique from Al-Qaida's Committee in Saudi Arabia breaking several months of silence.  The latter document proclaimed Al-Qaida's network still functional in the Kingdom and took credit for a recent sabotage attack on the Al-Qaseem airport aimed at disabling or destroying surveillance helicopters used by Saudi counterterrorism forces.  In response to the sudden flurry of clashes and general rise in chatter, I suggested to the Associated Press on July 5, "al-Qaida in the kingdom may be going into a new period of activity.  They were dormant for a long, long time, and suddenly they've become active.  I don't think al-Hayari's death will end it.  There [are] additional individuals who are being trained in Iraq, crossing back and forth into Saudi Arabia."  In this regard, on July 2, Al-Qaida terror leader in Iraq Abu Musab al-Zarqawi issued his own missive to the "mujahideen in Saudi Arabia", thanking them for "paying their dues" and recommending, "the enemies of Allah are waiting for either our victory or martyrdom, so... [come forward] and greet paradise."

Given the past modus operandi of Al-Qaida's outfit in Saudi Arabia, the State Department seems more or less on par when they suggest that Western embassies, housing complexes, and individual foreign nationals are the most likely targets for car bombings or ambushes by Al-Qaida gunmen.  However, Al-Qaida in Saudi is also thought to possess shoulder-fired surface-to-air missile launchers and has--within the past year alone--specifically targeted Western civilian airliners entering the Kingdom for attack.

*UPDATE*: Saudi Interior Ministry officials have reported raiding an alleged terrorist hideout near Riyadh where they discovered large amounts of bomb-making materials including fertilizer, ammonium nitrate, and other chemicals.  The seizure of such amounts of ammonium nitrate would suggest a likely intent by Al-Qaida to launch vehicle-borne explosive attacks.

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