JEDDAH, 7 December 2004 — A group of armed terrorists attacked the US Consulate in Jeddah yesterday. Eight people, including three attackers, were killed and two injured terrorists were arrested. Four Saudi security guards were initially reported killed. Saudi authorities later denied the report. A spokesman from the Saudi Embassy in London said that two security officers had been severely injured and two suffered light injuries.

Apparently no Americans were killed, but eyewitness reports told of two “white male” bodies seen being taken away in an ambulance and a bloodstained American woman being helped to a nearby hospital. A dead Asian male with what was described as “a shattered arm and wrist” was also seen.

US President George W. Bush commended the Saudi government for taking quick action to contain the terrorist attack. “We send our heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims,” he said.

The Saudi authorities said that there were no American casualties in the attack. Carol Kalin, US Embassy spokeswoman, said that none of the casualties were US diplomats. She did however confirm that two local staffers were wounded.

The attack took place slightly before 11 a.m. “Members of the deviant group threw explosives at the gate of the US Consulate in Jeddah and entered the compound,” an Interior Ministry official said. Initially, they were thought to have detonated a car bomb outside the main gate on Palestine Street, which is massively fortified.

Streets and main thoroughfares in the area were sealed off by police and security forces. Police, some wearing flack jackets and armed with automatic weapons, diverted traffic and actively discouraged onlookers. A column of black smoke rose from the compound while the sound of sporadic small arms fire echoed off surrounding buildings. Ambulances and fire services rushed to the scene and were parked a short distance from the consulate compound.

Arab News was told by eyewitnesses that the attack took place on the side entrance of the consulate compound, at a gate used for access by diplomatic cars and which is less well fortified.

A witness said that a white Nissan saloon car with tinted windows and “La ilaha illallah” underlined by a sword on the rear window was traveling slowly north along Hail Street which runs along the east side of the consular compound. Two consular limousines turned into the entrance where the access gate was opened for them.

The Nissan stopped and heavily armed gunmen ran from the car toward the two consular cars, “riddling them with bullets,” from point blank range, the witness said.

The second of the two cars held one American female employee and two non-US employees. The woman was wounded in the shoulder, the other passenger, a Filipino, in the shoulder by shrapnel from the disintegrating window and a bullet in the knee. The Pakistani driver was also wounded by a bullet. The fate of the people in the lead car is unknown. Arab News was told that in an act of considerable bravery, a Yemeni consulate worker pulled the injured woman from the car and dragged her to safety in a nearby maintenance room, where he locked her in a large cupboard.

The gate, where the hydraulic barrier had been lowered, remained open.

The attackers ran into the compound, according to another eyewitness who works there. He said they “acted in a very well trained manner, crouching and rolling on the ground returning fire from security guards.” The witness said he thought some fire from security came from inside the compound.

The attackers made their way rapidly across the compound, tearing down the US flag before setting fire to it. They reached the building where the detachment of Marines was thought to be housed and reportedly set fire to it, using grenades. A firefight then broke out between the attackers and security forces who had entered the compound.

Reports say that blocked at the gate by the hydraulic barrier, security forces broke through the compound wall to gain access. Sharpshooters were reportedly seen high in the minaret of a mosque overlooking the wall of the consular compound and on the upper floors of a nearby hospital and other high-rise buildings up to 300 meters away. A block of apartments on the west side received direct hits as the attackers apparently climbed onto high points in the compound and shot over the wall at security forces.

According to a source described as consulate staff, the terrorists entered the premises after killing a Saudi security guard and a Sri Lankan guard named Jaafar. The source said that five expatriates were killed in the attack including Emad a Sudanese general service officer, Muhammad an Indian, Romeo a Filipino and two drivers. “After the first bomb explosion, alarms were raised to alert the consulate staff,” he said.

“We heard sounds of bombing and gunfire but we thought it was outside the compound,” he said, adding that most of the staff was hiding inside a fortified secure room.

The official said he did not have any knowledge of any American killed or injured in the attack. Most of the injuries were minor and were caused by gunfire and flying glass pieces. He said he had also noticed heavy smoke billowing out of the compound for nearly 30 minutes.

However, according to Reuters, some of the eight consulate staff wounded in the attack were held by the attackers who tried to use them as human shields.

“They held us hostage for an hour and a half,” said Muaffa Jilan Ibrahim, a Yemeni maintenance worker who suffered superficial bullet wounds. “They told the security forces in front of us, ‘We have hostages; if you approach, we will shoot.’ They put us in front of them as human shields. The security forces stormed in and there was an exchange of fire,” he said.

Another consular employee, Richard Simon, an Indian national, said he had taken refuge in the consulate’s refuge room, a reinforced area designed to resist attacks.

“Three guys fired on the door, came inside and took four of us to another area and told us to sit down.” He described how security forces appeared on the scene and opened fire while the four hostages were lying on the floor. “Some people were injured,” he said.

A State Department official in Washington denied early reports that 18 local staffers had been taken hostage by the attackers. “That idea may have arisen due to the use of the safe haven,” he said, referring to a secure and fortified room where consular staff gathered when the alarm was raised.

“No assailants remain on the loose,” he added. “The attack is over, but the all-clear signal has not been given, because I think they are still working to completely secure the area and make sure there is no danger.”

By early evening, the roads surrounding the consulate were reopened to traffic, albeit with an unusually heavy presence of security.