Jiddah, Saudi Arabia
Five gunmen thought to be linked to al Qaida stormed the U.S. Consulate in Jiddah this week, killing five Saudi employees. No Americans were seriously hurt. Four of the gunmen were killed after a three-hour siege; the fifth was arrested. The attack came a year to the day after the Saudi government put out a wanted list of al Qaida members and began a crackdown. “The attacks in Saudi Arabia remind us that the terrorists are still on the move,” said President Bush. “They want us to grow timid and weary in the face of their willingness to kill randomly and kill innocent people.” The relative ease with which the men broke into the compound raised concerns about security at other U.S. sites, and the State Department promised an investigation.
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