The synchronized suicide bombings that killed at least 30 people here Monday night, including eight Americans, marks a warning to the Bush administration and the Saudi ruling family that Islamic terrorism remains dangerously potent in this volatile region, U.S. officials and terrorism experts said Tuesday. In the aftermath of the bombings, in which attackers shot their way into three expatriate housing compounds then set off a series of car bombs, the evidence pointed to Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda network as the perpetrator. But U.S. officials said no conclusive link had been made, and there has been no claim of responsibility. ”I can’t say for certain it was al-Qaeda yet, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was,” President Bush said in Pierce City, Mo., where he was surveying tornado damage. Secretary of State Colin Powell, who arrived here as part of a Mideast peace mission hours after the attacks, said the strike had the ”fingerprints of al-Qaeda.”Senior U.S. intelligence officials said they suspect that Khalid bin Muhammad al-Juhani, the leader of the al-Qaeda cell in Saudi Arabia, was responsible for planning and coordinating Monday’s suicide bombings. Intelligence officials said Juhani slipped into Saudi Arabia several months ago using fake documents. Full Story
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