RIYADH, 25 June 2004 — A group of diplomats from countries whose nationals have been victims of Al-Qaeda attacks in the Kingdom will meet with Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal to discuss ways of protecting their communities, diplomatic sources said yesterday.
The talks, planned for Sunday in Jeddah, will cover issues like intensifying security measures and deploying expatriate armed guards.
“The talks with Prince Saud will also help to make an assessment of security measures currently in place to protect Western and American targets,” a Western diplomat said on the condition of anonymity. But he added the Saudi government’s elaborate security arrangements had had a deterrent effect.
The meeting, he said, would bring together diplomats from the US, Britain and other Western countries, as well as South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.
“Only a few selected EU ambassadors and diplomats will participate in the talks,” he said.
At a press conference in Jeddah on Wednesday, Prince Saud said there would be meetings “with various communities that feel threatened to assure them that the state is doing all it can to protect them” following a spate of attacks by Al-Qaeda extremists that have targeted Westerners since early May.
