Terrorism in Saudi Arabia

Terrorism in Saudi Arabia has mainly been attributed to Islamic extremists. Their targets included foreign civilians—Westerners affiliated with its oil-based economy—as well as Saudi Arabian civilians and security forces. Anti-Western attacks have occurred in Saudi Arabia dating back to 1995. Saudi Arabia itself has been accused of funding terrorism in other countries, including Syria.

Background

The US military sent forces to Saudi Arabia in 1990 after Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait. After the US-led coalition won the 1991 Gulf War, it led to bases elsewhere but several thousand service members, mostly associated with Operation Southern Watch, remained. Many Muslims were upset at the U.S. presence, as it violated a Muslim tradition of excluding non-Muslim from permanent residence in the Arabian peninsula. It is believed this is one of, if not the main reason Osama bin Laden called for jihad against the United States. There were no attacks against American forces and Westerners in the country until after 1995.

After the September 11, 2001 attacks, there was continued world pressure for the Saudi government to crack down on the imams preaching anti-American rhetoric in Saudi mosques. These calls grew as it turned out that 15 of the 19 hijackers were from Saudi Arabia. Saudi officials pledged to make efforts to crack down on these imams.

It's estimated that some 4000 Saudi nationals are held as "security prisoners" in the country's jails, which means support for either Al-Qaeda or the Islamic State, and which includes scholars like Nasir al-Fahd and Ali al-Khudair, while the foreigners detained on terrorism charges number more than 1000, most of them being from Yemen, with 358 individuals.

The Interior Ministry issued further regulations designating an initial list of groups the government considers terrorist organizations, including the Muslim Brotherhood and the Houthi group in Yemen, along with “ Al-Qaeda, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, Al-Qaeda in Yemen, Al-Qaeda in Iraq, Daesh Islamic_State_of_Iraq_and_Sham,_or_ISIS.html" ;"title="Islamic State">Islamic State of Iraq and Sham, or ISIS">Islamic State">Islamic State of Iraq and Sham, or ISIS Jabhat al-Nusra, and Hezbollah inside the kingdom.”

Timeline

2000

On 17 November, in central Riyadh at the junction of Oruba/Olaya road, a car bomb killed British national Christopher Rodway and injured his wife Jane. The bomb was placed underneath his vehicle and detonated as it approached a traffic signal.

The following week on 22 November, in Riyadh close to the RSAF HQ, a car bomb detonated on a vehicle driven by British national Steve Coughlan. Although the driver and his three passengers were injured, all survived the attack.

Less than one month later on 15 December in Al Khobar, a small IED in a juice carton left on the vehicle (in the parking lot of the Souks Supermarket – now Panda) of British national David Brown exploded as he attempted to remove it. Brown survived but lost his sight and part of his right hand.

2001

On 10 January, a small bomb exploded outside the Euromarche supermarket in Riyadh. There were no casualties.

A bomb placed in a waste bin outside the Jarir bookstore on Oleya Road in central Riyadh on 15 March injured British national Ron Jones. Jones, American Charles Bayar, and Canadian David Soni, all employees of Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC), were taken from hospital and arrested by Saudi authorities. During detention, Jones was subjected to torture to extract a 'confession' before being released without charge after 67 days. Soni was treated similarly, and released along with Jones. Unable to work due to their harsh treatment in detention, Jones and Soni left Saudi Arabia soon thereafter. Bayar was held in solitary confinement, was closely interrogated but not tortured, did not sign any confession, and was released after 11 days without charge after the U.S. State Department (through the behind-the-scenes efforts of Bayar's wife Julia, a former Washington DC lobbyist, which secured the intercession of Bayar's local U.S. congressman and U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), a West Point classmate of Bayar's) issued a formal demarche to the Saudi Government demanding consular access to Bayar. He returned to work at SABIC but left Saudi Arabia without authorization in January 2002 to resume his law practice in New York.

On 3 May, an American doctor Gary Hatch received injuries to his face and hands after opening a parcel bomb in his office in Al Khobar.
On the eve of the U.S. strike on Afghanistan on 6 October, a pedestrian suicide bomber (who Saudi authorities claim to have been a Palestinian dentist) killed a 33-year-old American employee of Halliburton from Duncan, Oklahoma: Michael Jerrald Martin, outside the popular Metropolitan Store (Mushiri Trading) in Al Khobar. An American co-worker, Keith Maples, was also injured, as well as one Briton and two Filipinos.

15 November an acid-filled bottle was thrown at the car of a German family in Riyadh Some of these men were sentenced to death, but were spared

Alleged Western involvement

For all the attacks on Westerners in Saudi between November 2000 and May 2003 there is no public statement of any investigation or prosecution, except for the Saudi accusations against 'alcohol traders', a small group of western expatriates, mainly British, who Saudi authorities claimed were fighting a turf war over the illegal distribution of alcohol and were behind the car bombings. All of those involved in the 'alcohol trade' were arrested and detained.

The suspects were well-paid professionals with no prior record of violent crime. The Saudi Mabahith investigators of the crimes provided no forensic evidence against them, showed no interest in alcohol trading in their interrogation of suspects and in charges brought against detainees, and attacks of a very similar nature on western nationals continued despite the arrests of the alleged perpetrators. According to author Thomas Hegghammer, "today, few outside Saudi Arabia believe that alcohol traders carried out the bombings".

Early in 2001, video taped 'confessions' by William Sampson and Sandy Mitchell were aired on Saudi state TV channels. Apart from the confessions, which both men later retracted, there was no evidence to link any of the western detainees to the bombing campaign. Sampson and Mitchell were later sentenced to death but were eventually released (but not pardoned) along with several other British detainees in August 2003 in a prisoner exchange deal brokered by the UK and US for Saudi detainees from Guantanamo Bay. Both men maintain their innocence, citing torture was used to extract 'confessions.' Court action taken in the UK by the men since their release failed after the UK High Court supported Saudi Arabia's defense under the State Immunity Act 1978.

Those charged with the murders were accused of carrying out the attacks on behalf of MI6, the British Secret Intelligence Service. Diplomats from the British Embassy in Riyadh were investigated by Scotland Yard and cleared of any involvement. One of those investigated was Deputy Head of Mission in Riyadh, Simon McDonald, who was later appointed British Ambassador to Israel. Although British Embassy officials in Riyadh were aware of the continuing abuse of detainees, they failed to secure the support of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London in pushing hard for their release.

2002

In May, a Sudanese national attempted to shoot down a U.S. fighter jet taking off from the Prince Sultan Air Base with an SA-7 missile. The attempt failed, and in June the Saudis arrested several suspects.

On 5 June an Australian was shot at by a sniper in Tabuk.

A month later on 20 June, in the Riyadh suburb of Al-Nakheel, a British national, Simon Veness, a 35-year-old bank employee, was killed after a bomb placed underneath his vehicle exploded a few seconds after he set off for work.

On 29 June, a car bomb placed on the vehicle of an American couple in Riyadh was disarmed by Saudi authorities.

On 29 September, a car bomb killed German national Max Graf in central Riyadh.

2003

In early February a gunman fired at an Australian expatriate in Khamis Mushayt.

On 20 February, Robert Dent, an employee for BAE Systems was shot to death in his car while waiting at a traffic signal in the Granada district of Riyadh.

A Saudi was killed on 18 March in an explosion at a villa in the Al-Jazira district of Riyadh where police uncovered a cache of arms and explosives. It is believed that he was manufacturing a bomb at the time.

On 1 May, a Saudi dressed in Saudi naval uniform penetrated an American base and killed an American before getting away unhurt.

At a house in the same district of Riyadh on 6 May, police were involved in a shootout with suspected militants. All nineteen suspects escaped and police unearthed another large cache of arms and explosives.

The insurgency took a giant leap forward with the Riyadh Compound Bombings; on 12 May, attackers drove three car bombs into residential compounds housing Westerners and others, killing 26 people. Nine bombers also died.

The compound bombings led to a crackdown against militants by the Saudi government who until this point had denied there was a terrorist threat within the Kingdom. Police and National Guard troops were involved in hundreds of raids, seizing weapons and equipment used by the militants.

On 8 November, hours after the U.S. embassy issued a warning about attacks in Saudi Arabia, a truck bomb struck the al-Mohaya residential compound in Riyadh, killing 17 workers and injured more than 100. Most of the victims were Muslims, prompting outcry among Saudi citizens.

Alleged inside involvement

According to an American intelligence sources quoted by the '' Daily Telegraph'', 12 May bombers' operation "depended on a significant level of insider knowledge of the compounds," and this and other evidence indicates that al-Qaeda has infiltrated even the elite National Guard, which is involved in compound security. In both 2003 bombings of compounds, bombers wore uniforms of security forces.

2004

After the Muhaya bombing, militants either halted or were prevented from committing their attacks. Security forces continued their raids and arrests. On 21 April, a car bomb struck a building originally used by the Saudi police, killing five and injuring 148. This marked the start of a new campaign by the militants.

On 1 May, the 2004 Yanbu attack left six Westerners and a Saudi dead. One victim was tied to a car and dragged through the street.

On 22 May, German chef Hermann Dengl was shot to death in Riyadh at an automated teller machine by Panda exit 10.

On 29–30 May, the militants staged one of their bloodiest attacks, killing 22 and injuring 25—mainly foreign workers—in the oil-industry town of Khobar. The four gunmen took dozens hostage, attacking three buildings over a 25-hour period—including the Oasis compound, which houses the employees of foreign oil companies. According to witnesses, they separated Christian and Muslim workers they found and shot the Christians. Of those killed, 19 were foreign civilians, three were Saudis. As in the Yanbu attack one (foreign) victim was killed by being tied to the back of a vehicle and dragged through the street. Three of the four gunmen escaped."Midnight at the Oasis"
, by Michael Griffin, June 2004, NthPosition"Negotiating hostage crises with the new terrorists"
by Adam Dolnik, Keith M. Fitzgerald, Praeger, 2007,

On 6 June, gunmen shot and killed an Irish cameraman of the BBC
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