Al-Qaida blamed for Saudi bombing

A car bombing at a security building in the Saudi capital bears all the hallmarks of al Qaida, officials have said.

At least nine people were killed in the blast in Riyadh and the interior ministry said 148 others were injured.

Yesterday’s explosion shattered the glass fronts of nearby buildings, ignited fires and was heard as far as three miles away. Smoke billowed from the seven-storey General Security building, where workers issue driving licence renewals among other administrative tasks.

The building used to house the headquarters of the Saudi Security Forces and some forces still work in part of the building.

The bombing occurred about 2pm local time – noon Irish time – a time when staff would have been leaving their offices. The interior ministry said the bomber tried to drive his vehicle into the General Security building. When stopped by guards, the driver exploded the car about 100 feet from the gate.

Five other vehicles with explosives were stopped, a Saudi official said.

Hanan Batteesha, a woman who lives nearby, said: “We heard wails and cries, then saw our neighbours running down the stairs.”.

“The fronts of the buildings around us were damaged. The air conditioners were mangled, and there was smoke everywhere.”

Crown Prince Abdullah and interior minister Prince Nayef visited the wounded in the hospital.

“I am sorry that those criminals are Muslims,” Nayef told reporters. He said Saudis should not co-operate or sympathise with militants “because those who do will be considered criminals”.

“The terrorists are not targeting foreigners they are targeting the nation,” Nayef said.

A leading Saudi cleric called the bombing “a dastardly criminal act” in an interview with the Saudi television station Al-Ekhbaria.

“How can they make these dastardly acts bring them closer to God?” Sheikh Abdullah Al-Mutlaq said.

The General Security service has been hevily involved in the campaign against Islamic militants that followed the suicide attacks in May and November 2003 in Riyadh.

Those attacks, also vehicle bombs, killed 51 people, including the attackers. They were blamed on al-Qaida, which carried out the September 11 attacks on the United States.

A US counter-terrorism official said the attack bore the hallmarks of Osama bin Laden’s network and appeared to be related to the terrorist group.

The Saudi official agreed that yesterday’s attack fitted al-Qaida’s pattern.

Last month, an internet message purportedly from al-Qaida threatened Saudi security officers, saying that to attack them “in their homes, or workplace, is a very easy matter”.

Saudi police said last weekend that they seized three booby-trapped sport utility vehicles loaded with more than four tons of explosives. The vehicles had apparently been abandoned by militants involved in a shootout with security forces.