Three bombs that ripped through expatriate homes in the Saudi capital, killing at least 90 people and wounding dozens more, occurred despite repeated US warnings of imminent “terrorist attacks on American interests”. Well over a dozen armed militants were known to be on the run in the Saudi capital after escaping a police dragnet launched after a shootout with security forces last week. Police seized a huge cache of explosives and munitions, cash and disguises, which the authorities acknowledged were intended for attacks on Western interests by what was described as a “cell” of Osama bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda network. US and Saudi officials blamed the overnight blasts on the terror group. Saudi Arabia is bin Laden’s birthplace and the homeland of 15 of the 19 hijackers who carried out the September 11, 2001 bomb attacks in the United States. Despite being stripped of his nationality, the Al-Qaeda leader enjoys considerable support in the kingdom — which boasts Islam’s holiest sites at Mecca and Medina — amid widespread anger over the US-led war on Iraq and US support for Israel. Full Story
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