JEDDAH, 8 December 2004 — Terrorists who stormed the US Consulate in Jeddah on Monday had “scoped out” the building before their carefully planned attack, US Ambassador James Oberwetter said yesterday.
Addresssing a press conference here, Oberwetter also described a firefight at the gate before the terrorists slipped in on foot behind a diplomatic car entering the complex.
Four of the five attackers were killed after taking non-US staff hostage. But Oberwetter said US Marines stopped the gunmen entering the main chancery building where American staff were sheltering.
“It’s clear that some of these people have been looking at our procedures,” Oberwetter said after touring the site, which remained closed yesterday.
“They clearly understood how our cars entered the compound and in my view had scoped it out.”
He said the gunmen tailed a consular car carrying Monica Lemieux, vice consul of political affairs. Lemieux was shot in the shoulder during the attack, but according to Consul General Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley, Lemieux is up and about and on her way to recovery. The attackers approached the sprawling complex, swinging their car behind the consular vehicle just as it entered the consulate.
A barrier at the gate blocked the attackers’ car, forcing the gunmen to get out. “The terrorists began to engage the local Saudi staff at the gate, who returned fire and a great firefight broke out.”
“Regrettably the terrorists were not taken down there and were able to access the compound,” Oberwetter said.
Oberwetter said the chancery building where most American staff work came under attack and a temporary house for Marine guards next door also caught fire, though the cause was unknown.
“Marines were performing heroically protecting the chancery and the citizens who were inside,” he added. “The chancery building was not breached, but it was attacked.”
Oberwetter gave no details of yesterday’s hostage-taking but said Saudi forces “freed the compound from the five terrorists”.
Ten local staff were injured in all, and two Americans were slightly wounded.
Abercrombie-Winstanley said she and her staff went to a “safe area” after hearing shooting. “It’s not good to hear gunfire outside but I did have complete faith in the security of the building. I certainly was worried,” she said.
Oberwetter said Washington’s warning to its citizens to avoid Saudi Arabia remains in place but its relations with the Kingdom are “secure” despite the attack on the consulate.
An April advisory that urges the approximately 30,000 US citizens in Saudi Arabia to leave the country and warns Americans against traveling to the Kingdom “remains in place,” Oberwetter said.
“We look forward to a day when the situation would allow us to pull down that notice,” he said.
Oberwetter said Riyadh and Washington would continue to work together in fighting terrorism.
US President George W. Bush “has spoken very well on this matter. The relationship between the United States and the Kingdom is secure. We will be working together in our fight against terrorism. The war continues ... we intend to remain here,” he said.
There will be new security measures in place to further protect the consulate which has no plans of moving from its current location according to the ambassador.
