Westerners prepare to flee Saudi after shooting rampage

Western oil industry workers who lost five colleagues in a Saudi Arabian shooting rampage finalised plans today to pack up and leave the kingdom.

More than a dozen employees of US oil contractor ABB Lummus Global – Americans, Australians, Italians, Britons – gathered at the bullet-strafed Holiday Inn hotel in Yanbu to work out details for the departure of the entire staff of about 90 plus some family members.

Company officials said foreign staff would be transferred out of Yanbu and US diplomats in the kingdom have urged Americans to leave.

“We have all decided to leave - this was something that was decided in yesterday’s meeting,” said a Scottish employee who identified himself only as Doug. “All we’re doing now is to decide when and how we will do it.”

Company spokesman Bjorn Edlund said the employees and their families would leave within days.

Saudi troops have deployed heavy weaponry to guard foreigners’ houses and offices in Yanbu, 220 miles north of the Red Sea port of Jeddah.

Troops patrolled the streets in armoured vehicles and government officials vowed to hunt down terrorists who have struck four foreign targets in the past year.

After spraying the ABB Lummus offices with gunfire, the four bearded men tied the body of one of their victims to the bumper of a car and headed for a boys school. Traumatised Saudi schoolchildren recounted how the attackers summoned them with gunfire to watch the body being dragged.

Five Westerners and a Saudi died in the attack, which ended with gun battles in the streets as police gave chase. All four attackers were killed.

Students said the attackers drove into their car park and fired into the air to attract attention to the bloodied corpse attached to their car by its right leg. ”This is the president of America!” the men screamed.

“God is great! God is great! Come join your brothers in Fallujah!” they shouted, referring to the Iraqi city where US troops are battling insurgents.

Students and school officials said some of the boys ran crying from the scene.

“I was shocked and terrified when I saw them. I just froze. I didn’t know what to do,” said an 18-year-old student who gave only his first name, Rayyan. “This is not right. This is un-Islamic.”

In a statement from Houston, ABB Lummus said it was constantly monitoring the security situation in Saudi Arabia.

“In light of recent events in Yanbu, ABB has decided to transfer all foreign employees involved in the attack from the Yanbu site in the coming days,” it said.

The US embassy in Riyadh issued a message last night saying its staff would leave diplomatic compounds only for essential business “until further notice.” It cancelled all social events involving guests at the embassy or at the U.S. consulate.

Britain’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Sherard Cowper-Coles, visited Yanbu to insist that the attack would not cause “a mass exodus” of foreigners.

But behind closed doors, dozens of Westerners prepared to leave.

“It’s not safe here anymore. I don’t think I can stay any longer,” said a Canadian engineer, walking inside a foreigners’ compound with his young daughter. Like many Westerners, he refused to give his name out of concern for his safety.

Many Westerners were visibly nervous.

“It’s a little freaky out here,” said Nick Dockett, a 36-year-old engineer from London. He quit his job with ABB in Yanbu two weeks ago and was preparing to move to Thailand when the attack occurred. “I guess I made the move at the right time,” he said.

The wounded – reports on the number ranged from 25 to 50 – were recovering at Yanbu’s Royal Commission Hospital

Abdullah al-Taimani, 13, who took shrapnel to his back from a grenade, groaned in pain as his father, Nasser, cursed the attackers.

“These people are not Muslims,” Nasser al-Taimani said. ”What they have done will only land them in hell.”

The four attackers are brothers and are Saudis, a security official said.

One attacker was reported to be on the kingdom’s list of most-wanted terrorists.

According to Saudi authorities, three of the attackers worked at the site and used their keys to enter the ABB building on Saturday morning, then opened fire randomly. ABB Lummus is the energy arm of multinational engineering company ABB.

They killed two Americans, two Britons, an Australian and a Saudi. The Americans, the Australian and one of the Britons were ABB Lummus engineers, Edlund said. The other Briton was a contractor.