posted on Nov, 10 2003 @ 04:14 PM
Here are two new related articles from CNN, not sure if you guys have heard or mentioned this yet. Seems to be coming to a head.
"RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (CNN) -- Saudi security officials are deploying thousands of troops to the city of Mecca because of concerns that terrorists
may be planning new attacks during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Saudi government sources told CNN.
A U.S. official also said there is intelligence suggesting additional terrorist attacks are possible in Saudi Arabia in coming days.
Seventeen people, including five children, were killed and 122 people were wounded in Saturday's suicide car bombing in a mostly Arab neighborhood in
Riyadh, the Saudi Press Agency said.
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, echoing Saudi assessments, said it was clear to him "that al Qaeda wants to take down the royal
family and the government of Saudi Arabia." Excerpts of his comments were broadcast Monday on Al Arabiya.
Officials expect the toll to rise as rescuers continue searching the rubble for any other victims.
U.S. to close embassy in Sudan, officials say
The attack occurred a day after the United States said it was shutting its embassy and consulates in Saudi Arabia, citing intelligence of an imminent
terrorist attack.
On Monday, two senior U.S. State Department officials said the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum, Sudan, would be closed through the week due to an unspecified
threat.
A delegation from the Lebanese Foreign Ministry has arrived in Riyadh to help their citizens cope with the attack, the Lebanese consul said.
Consul Ali Ghazawi said four Lebanese were killed in the attack and three members of a Lebanese family -- a father, mother and son -- were missing.
The Saudi Press Agency said seven Lebanese were killed. Some of the 28 Lebanese wounded have been released from hospitals.
The bodies of Lebanese citizens killed will not be returned to Lebanon for several days, Ghazawi said.
U.S. official says attack 'shocking'
In Washington, President Bush expressed his condolences to Crown Prince Abdullah and told him the United States stands with Saudi Arabia in the war
against terrorism.
Armitage, in Cairo Monday, called the attack "shocking" and offered condolences to Egyptian officials. Four Egyptians were killed.
Asked by CNN whether the Saudis were doing enough to fight terrorism, Armitage commended their efforts following car bombings at housing complexes in
Riyadh in May that killed 34 people, then added:
"We, the defenders, have to be right 100 percent of the time, and the terrorists only have to be right once."
Armitage flew to Cairo after a visit to Saudi Arabia and a meeting with members of the royal family.
The car that exploded Saturday night left a crater in the center of the neighborhood, which was littered with rubble and burned-out vehicles.
The attackers stormed the affluent neighborhood near Riyadh's diplomatic quarter, first firing on security guards and then driving their
explosives-laden cars through the gates.
Sources said the attackers apparently had stolen a jeep from Saudi security forces to disguise themselves. Saudi guards opened the gate upon seeing
the jeep before the attackers opened fire, the sources said.
Westerners who work in Saudi Arabia are considering sending their families home because of the dangers there and moving their companies out of Saudi
Arabia until it becomes safer, some Western businessmen told CNN.
In addition to Saudi and Egyptian fatalities, a Sudanese and an Indian were also killed in the attack, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
The 122 wounded included Jordanians, Palestinians, Indians, Pakistanis, Sudanese, Ethiopians, Eritreans, Indonesians, Filipinos, Turks, Sri Lankans,
and Romanians, the agency said.
Officials, citizens, and journalists were shocked at the attack because it hit a target where most of the people are Arabs.
CNN's Caroline Faraj, David Ensor, Nic Robertson, Nada el-Housseini, Sandy Petrykowski and Elise Labott contributed to this report. "
2nd one here is about a soldier killed by a rocket propelled grenade.
"BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A U.S. soldier with the 18th Military Police Brigade was killed Sunday night in a rocket-propelled-grenade attack in central
Iraq, the Coalition Press Information Center said Monday.
The incident occurred about 7 p.m. (11 a.m. EST) west of Iskandariyah, about 40 miles south of Baghdad. The attack is under investigation.
The soldier was the 38th killed in November, and brings the number of U.S. troops killed in the Iraq war to 398. Since President Bush declared the end
to major combat on May 1, 259 U.S. military members have been killed.
There is no reliable source for Iraqi civilian or combatant casualty figures, either during the period of major combat or after May 1. The Associated
Press reported an estimated 3,240 civilian Iraqi deaths between March 20 and April 20, but the AP said that the figure was based on records of only
half of Iraq's hospitals and the actual number was thought to be significantly higher.
Meanwhile, U.S. military officials who had backed away from confirming a surface-to-air missile attack in Friday's Black Hawk crash said Sunday they
believe the helicopter was hit by a Soviet-built Strela-3 SAM.
All six U.S. military personnel on board the helicopter died in the crash near Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit.
Friday's deadly crash added to a bloody week for the coalition. Thirty-seven U.S. troops and one Polish soldier died in Iraq in the first week of
November alone.
Sources with the 4th Infantry Division told CNN they suspect a Soviet-built Kolomna KBM Strela-3 low-altitude surface-to-air missile hit the
helicopter, using an infrared guidance system.
"We do believe it was brought down by ground fire," said Lt. Col. Steve Russell, commander of the 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment.
Only one of the 37 Americans who died during the week was killed in a non-hostile incident. The military has confirmed that all other deaths were
caused by coalition enemies.
Three U.S. soldiers were killed Saturday in two separate vehicle attacks.
Two soldiers were killed when their vehicle ran over a homemade bomb on a main highway west of Fallujah about 8:30 a.m. (12:30 a.m. EST) near the
village of Sichir, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) west of Baghdad.
A third soldier was killed Saturday night when an improvised explosive device hit a mounted convoy in Baghdad's al-Wehda district about 7:45 p.m.
(11:45 a.m. EST).
On Saturday, U.S. forces attacked targets in the Tikrit area in what they called a "show of force."
Two F-16 fighter planes flew low over the marshy region and dropped at least two 500-pound bombs near the crash site north of Baghdad.
U.S. forces also used Apache attack helicopters, Bradley fighting vehicles, M1A1 Abrams tanks and close air support, said coalition spokeswoman Maj.
Josslyn Aberle.
Red Cross pulls out
The International Red Cross said Saturday it is temporarily closing its Baghdad and Basra offices because of "extremely dangerous" conditions in
Iraq, said Florian Westphal, a Red Cross spokesman in Geneva.
"We remain determined to remain active in Iraq," Westphal said, adding the agency would monitor the security situation "day-by-day."
The Red Cross reduced its international staff last month after two staff members and 10 other people were killed in an October 27 car bomb attack on
its Baghdad offices.
After that attack, the agency asked its staff members if they wanted to stay in Iraq under the current conditions.
The Red Cross had a staff of 30 international workers and 600 Iraqis before the October attack.
Other developments
The casket of of Staff Sgt. Joe Nathan Wilson is removed from a hearse Sunday, in Copiah County, Mississippi. Wilson died in the November 2 Chinook
crash in Iraq.
� Queen Elizabeth II on Sunday led a somber ceremony of remembrance for Britain's war dead, including more than 50 British troops killed this year in
Iraq. (Full story)
� Iraqi and coalition forces Saturday arrested a person they said they think is one of Saddam's former bodyguards. The coalition conducted the early
morning raid south of Kirkuk after receiving information that the suspect was involved in recent anti-coalition attacks.
� The U.S. military Saturday captured 12 people in Iraq suspected of being involved in an attack on a Baghdad hotel that killed one U.S. soldier and
wounded 15 people last month. (Full story)
� Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said Saturday the United States in Iraq is walking a fine line between liberator and occupier. (Full
story)
CNN's Dana Bash, Jamie McIntyre, Nic Robertson, Matthew Chance, Ben Wedeman, Pelin Sidki and Barbara Starr contributed to this report."
Im thinking it may be a good idea to start a new thread recapping everything you guys discovered. We're passed 230 messages so if someone doesnt
want to filter through all of them, it would be nice to have one thread that has it all right at the beginnig.
Keep it up guys and gals!