ALKHOBAR, 8 October — Disbelief and fear pervaded this city yesterday morning after a bomb blast which killed two people and wounded at least four others.
Shops in the area were open for business and life in the vicinity of the site of the blast appeared normal, except for the police standing guard near Al-Mashari electronics store, where the rubble from the damage left by the explosion was being cleared.
Twisted metal and shattered glass scattered around the site of the blast in the shop selling watches and electronics on King Khaled Street. The area is frequented by Westerners and Asians.
Spots of blood covered the front of a white Mercedes car parked near the shop on Saturday evening.
The car was still there yesterday, with the driver’s door bent out of shape. Nearby stores were also damaged.
Saudi television showed the interior of the shop, which sells watches and electronics, littered with twisted metal and shattered glass. Blood lay in pools inside and outside the store, and also spattered a car parked nearby.
“We were sitting with friends and we heard a big bang,” a stunned Saudi recalled.
“We thought it was an electrical short-circuit. Then I saw people walking around with blood pouring from them.”
The man, in a nearby shop when the bomb went off, was one of many people deeply shocked by the incident in Alkhobar. “We are now afraid. Maybe next time it could be here,” said an Indian man.
Alkhobar, a town of shopping malls and retail stores near the main oil city of Dhahran, has seen other bomb attacks in recent years, as has the capital Riyadh.
Residents said there was nothing to suggest it was anything more than another deadly chapter in a bloody turf war between criminal gangs.
A Sudanese man said: “The incident is separate from those Sept. 11 events. The street has mostly foreigners from India, Bangladesh and the Philippines.”
Small parcel bomb attacks have wounded Westerners in Alkhobar in recent years. Three Britons confessed on Saudi television to carrying them out in a dispute over the trade in illegal alcohol. A dozen Westerners are in jail awaiting trial as inquiries continue into bootlegging and the explosions.
The bombings began last Nov. 17 when a Briton died and his wife was injured when their car blew up. Less than a week later, two other Britons and an Irish woman were injured in another blast in the capital.
A Briton was also wounded on Dec. 15 in Alkhobar by a small parcel bomb.
A bomb went off on Jan. 10 outside a Riyadh shopping center and on March 15 one Briton and an Egyptian were slightly hurt by a blast outside a bookshop, again in the Saudi capital.
In Riyadh, security at the entrance to the Diplomatic Quarter has been beefed up with the stationing of armored vehicles and close questioning of visitors, particularly at night.
The bombing is testing nerves among Westerners in the Gulf amid fears that Washington’s war on terrorism could spark reprisals against them.
“The concern is that this may be the kind of incident we’re afraid of,” a Western diplomat said in Riyadh. “The fear is that there will be other incidents like it.”
Inquiries at major shopping complexes showed that although there was no significant drop in the number of customers, police patrols had been increased.
Desert safaris, being organized by some hotels, have been canceled because of the Western expats’ reluctance to join such outings.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a British national said he was taking precautionary measures by avoiding visits to some supermarkets and bookstores normally frequented by Western expatriates.
The US Embassy in a warden message asked the 27,000-strong American community to remain vigilant, abide by travel warnings and call the mission in emergencies. In the recorded message, it also advised them to check their cars and keep a low profile.
US citizens have been urged to review the previous warden messages, travel warnings, consular information sheets and regional travel brochures, all of which have been placed at the consular affairs website at http://travel.state.gov.
The British Embassy in Riyadh also issued a new warden notice reminding British nationals in the Kingdom of a Sept. 13 notice advising them to be vigilant and keep a low profile.
It said that as a result of Saturday’s blast it was advising its 30,000 nationals, the largest Western expatriate community, to tighten security.
Listing “examples of security procedures which would be sensible,” the embassy advised British citizens not to make “unnecessary expeditions, particularly after dark,” not to display “obvious marks of nationality” and to lock their cars and inspect them if they have been left unattended.
British expatriates have also been advised to observe local dress code and be alert to Muslim sensibilities.
It said Britons living in compounds should positively identify callers before opening the door. They should ask for identification and ensure that the domestic staff and guests follow the same procedure.
At a reception hosted by Cecille El Beleidi, information officer at the British Embassy in Riyadh, newsmen were told about the increase in visitor hits at their website www.ukm.org.sa.
Cecille, however, said that she personally did not find the situation abnormal while visiting any shopping complex, although it would be prudent to observe the precautions in one’s own interest.
“We have been advising British nationals to be vigilant in the present situation and keep a low profile,” Dominic Asquith, deputy head of mission at the British Embassy, said during the reception.
Other Western embassies in the Kingdom said they were not changing their advice to their nationals but diplomats noted that it was already extremely strict.
“Anything stronger and we’d be told to stay at home all day,” said one expatriate in Riyadh.
Whatever its origins, Saturday’s attack has done nothing to erase fears among some Westerners that they may become a target for reprisals for attacks on Afghanistan.
“It is worrying and at the same time, people should be vigilant. I am more anxious than afraid,” said a Swiss businessman in Alkhobar.
