DAMMAM/JEDDAH, 21 May 2003 — Expat schools throughout the Kingdom yesterday announced that they were closing on a temporary basis on security grounds, as US, British and German diplomatic missions said they were closing for a four-day period for the same reason.

Despite ongoing IB and GCSE examinations, which started earlier this month, the British International School (Continental) in Jeddah told Arab News that the school would close until Saturday.

“News reports of likely imminent terrorist action have coincided with messages that the school has received from diplomatic sources that we should follow their example in taking the precaution of temporary closure,” said Russ Law, the director of the school.

Jeddah Prep and Grammar School said that following the advice of the British Consulate, the school would be closed today and would reopen Sunday.

Contact with the American North Campus School could not be made, but sources outside the school said that it had been closed “for quite some time.”

The British Council announced suspension of its English language courses before the Iraq War. A guard at the council at the Farsi Center recently said that courses would resume from Saturday. However, a recorded telephone message at the council said yesterday that courses would start again “as soon as possible.” Schools managed by the International Schools Group in the Eastern Province are also being closed down “at least till the end of summer vacation” for security reasons, according to ISG sources.

The ISG manages Dhahran Academy, adjacent to the US Consulate, Rahima Academy and the British School, which are open to expatriate students — mostly Americans, Europeans, Asians and non-Saudi Arabs.

The ISG is not giving any definite date for the reopening of the schools. While security has been beefed up everywhere in the Eastern Province, the management says it does not want to take any chances.

Dhahran Academy is considered one of the most prestigious schools in the Kingdom. Parents of students at Dhahran Academy, the British School and Rahima Academy expressed concern over their children’s future and hope that the situation will improve soon.

Dhahran High School also told Arab News that it “deeply regrets” that because of security concerns the school year has now been declared finished. Even the graduation ceremony has been canceled.

Yousuf Naqwi, a Pakistani national whose children are at Rahima Academy, told Arab News that the security and well-being of his children were the top priority.

In Riyadh, American and British International Schools are still closed following suicide bombings on May 12, in which at least 25 people were killed.

Deborah Robin Croft, press attaché at the US Embassy, told Arab News that the American school would remain closed until further notice.

According to Patrick Bloomfield, principal of the British International School, a section of the school grounds located near the Al-Hamra compound was damaged in the wake of the bombings. The school would remain closed for two weeks to facilitate repairs to the damaged portion, he added. However, the multinational school, which is also situated nearby, reopened after a three-day closure.

— Javid Hassan in Riyadh contributed to this report.