3 Flee After Hostage Crisis

After killing at least 22 mostly foreign civilians and trapping dozens of people in a 25-hour hostage standoff, three Islamist militants managed Sunday to steal a car, disappear into rush-hour traffic and slip out of the grip of hundreds of Saudi commandos. The men, who authorities said used hostages as human shields to escape, were still missing early this morning. Saudi security forces searched for the suspects around Khobar, an eastern oil hub and home to a vast community of foreign workers. One of the missing militants had been wounded fighting security forces, an official at the Interior Ministry said. Saudi Arabia was reeling as it counted the casualties of Saturday’s shootouts and hostage crisis — four Saudis and an American were dead, along with workers from Asia, Africa and Europe. The British Foreign Office confirmed in London that oil executive Michael Hamilton had been killed, Associated Press reported. About 25 people were wounded in the attack, which delivered another shock to Saudi Arabia’s oil industry and the massive expatriate community that keeps the crude flowing. Full Story