Saudis blame al-Qaida as bomb attack kills 17

SAUDIS blamed al-Qaida militants last night for the suicide car bombing of a Riyadh housing complex, declaring it proof of the terror network’s willingness to shed Muslim blood in its zeal to bring down the US-linked Saudi monarchy.

The attack late Saturday at an upscale compound for foreign workers where mostly Arabs lived killed 17 people and wounded more than 120. The blast, not far from diplomatic quarters and the king's main palace, left piles of rubble, hunks of twisted metal, broken glass and a large crater.

"It's no longer an issue of terrorism for them," said Dawood al-Shirian, a Saudi analyst. "It's become a war on the regime, a war to turn the country into a new Afghanistan ruled by a Saudi-style Taliban."