New terror attack on Saudi 'probable'

Britain’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia warned today that another terrorist attack in the kingdom was “probable”.

Sherard Cowper-Coles also confirmed that diplomats were trying to establish if a second Briton died in the siege at the weekend in the oil-rich city of Khobar. Oil executive Michael Hamilton was shot dead at the start of the 24-hour hostage-taking incident that left at least 22 people dead.

The Foreign Office in London has advised against all but essential travel to Saudi and urged visitors to take great care.

But unlike the US, the British government has stopped short of recommending that people leave the country.

The Foreign Office website said: “We continue to believe that terrorists remain determined to carry out further attacks in Saudi Arabia, and that these may be in the final stages of preparation.

“The threat includes, but is not limited to, residential compounds and diplomatic and other official premises.”

Mr Cowper-Coles, who travelled to Khobar from the capital Riyadh after the incident, said he believed further attacks were now “probable”.

The ambassador said that officials were investigating reports that a second Briton had died.

“I have heard those rumours as well,” he said.

But he said all 52 British residents in the compound registered with the Embassy had been accounted for.

Summing up official advice to Britons in the kingdom, he said earlier: “The headline advice is - come to Saudi Arabia only if your visit is essential,” he said. “Stay here only if your presence is essential.”

An off-shoot of Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida terrorist network has claimed responsibility for the attack on foreigners working in the oil industry in Khobar, which ended when helicopter-borne Saudi commandos stormed the luxury compound.

Three of the four attackers managed to flee and were being hunted today as Saudi officials sought to reassure foreign oil executives and prevent a dramatic rise in crude oil prices, which are already high.

Mr Hamilton was in his car on his way to work at Arab Petroleum Investments Corp (Apicorp) when he was gunned down on Saturday.

His body was then reportedly dragged through the streets behind a vehicle before being dumped near a bridge.

Gunmen later held up to 50 people hostage in a residential compound after attacking the offices of two oil companies.

Mr Hamilton, a father-of-two, was senior manager of the Project and Trade Finance Department at Apicorp and had worked for them in Saudi since 1989.

He and his wife, Penelope, lived in one of the special housing compounds reserved for oil workers.

He is reported to have dropped her off at a nearby compound to visit friends just minutes before he was shot dead as he drove up to the main gates of his office.

He has two grown up children – a son who works as a lawyer in the UK and a daughter who is studying medicine in Australia, according to Apicorp spokesman Mahdi Al-Mahdi.

“He was very devoted to his work and very hard working,” Mr Al-Mahdi said.

“He was a pleasant and very popular character – his death is a tragic loss. Everybody is very, very sad about it – especially the way he was being targeted.”

A Saudi security official said the attack was “definitely inspired by al-Qaida”.

An off-shoot of the group appeared to accept responsibility by posting a message on the internet.

The statement – which has not been confirmed as genuine – was signed by the “al-Qaida Organisation in the Arabian Peninsula”.

The shootings came amid rising oil prices partly caused by fears that the Saudi kingdom – the world’s largest oil producer – is unable to protect itself from terrorists.

Saudi-born Bin Laden, who is blamed for past terror attacks in Saudi Arabia and the US, has vowed to destabilise the oil industry and undermine the kingdom.