JEDDAH, 3 May 2004 — Saudi security forces are capable of taking on any terrorist group, Prince Miteb ibn Abdullah, assistant deputy commander of the National Guard for military affairs, said yesterday.
“Our country will remain strong in the face of destruction and terrorism,” the Saudi Press Agency quoted him as saying.
Prince Miteb’s statement came after security forces killed four terrorists in a gunbattle in Yanbu. The four killed five Westerners and a National Guard security officer and wounded 33 others in the city during the attacks on Saturday morning.
Prince Saud ibn Abdullah ibn Thunayyan, chairman of the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu, said the security situation in Yanbu had returned to normal.
“The security situation is extremely satisfactory,” the prince told a gathering of American and European expatriates in Yanbu yesterday.
“Your protection is the responsibility of all people in this country,” the Royal Commission chairman said.
Prince Saud expressed deep sorrow over the “criminal incident” that killed two Americans, two Britons and an Australian and praised the contribution of the expatriate community to the development of the industrial city.
The five engineers, all employed by ABB Lummus, a subsidiary of Swiss-Swedish engineering and oil services giant ABB, were attacked while working in an oil refinery run by US energy giant ExxonMobil and the Saudi company SABIC.
Earlier, Prince Saud visited the people wounded in the attack, who are being treated at the Royal Commission’s Medical Center.
Meanwhile, the Shoura Council denounced the Yanbu attack and called for joint efforts to combat terrorism.
In a statement issued after its regular meeting in Riyadh yesterday, the 120-member consultative body said the attack targeted the innocent people in public and private facilities and the entire nation.
“These ugly acts could only be committed by criminals,” the statement said, adding such acts of terror would only serve the Kingdom’s enemies.
The Shoura declared its full support to the government in its efforts to confront “this deviant group.”