Saudi: Americans Ordered Out

6:30am UK, Wednesday May 14, 2003

The United States has ordered all non-essential US diplomats and the families of all its embassy staff to leave Saudi Arabia following the latest suicide attacks.

Bomb devastation in Riyadh

And President Bush has made it clear that the bombings prove the war on terror continues but insists it is war the US will win.

The President has vowed that America will find the terrorists responsible for the suicide bombings.

Ten of the dead are Americans and at least five Britons have been injured in the three synchronised attacks which targeted Westerners living in the Saudi capital, Riyadh.

President Bush said: "These despicable acts were committed by killers whose only faith is hate and the United States will find the killers and they will learn the meaning of American justice."

The British Foreign Office has warned against travelling to Saudi Arabia following the attacks and said there remained a "high threat" of further attacks, possibly using "chemical or biological materials".

Fireballs

In each of Monday night's blasts, gunmen driving vans packed with explosives shot their way into residential complexes where large numbers of western and other foreign nationals lived before detonating their bombs.

They exploded with such force that fireballs could be seen in the night sky and entire walls of apartment blocks collapsed.

Unconfirmed reports said the son of Riyadh's deputy governor, Abdullah al-Blaihed, an Australian, a Lebanese man and two children are among the dead.

The London-based Arabic magazine Al-Majallah said al Qaeda had implied it was behind the attack and, earlier, US Secretary of State Colin Powell said he believed the attacks bore all the hallmarks of the terror group.

Suicide bombers

President Bush said he would not be surprised if investigations showed al Qaeda was responsible.

"I can't say for certain it was al Qaeda yet but I wouldn't be surprised if it was," he said.

A fourth explosion targeted the headquarters of Siyanco - a joint US-Saudi-owned company.

One eyewitness told Sky News Online that two gunmen shot at the wounded as they stumbled from the bombed out wreckage of the Al Hamra housing complex.

Momen Abu Tair, 34, said there were two trucks. The suicide bombers were believed to have tied themselves to the inside of one, while two gunmen travelled in the second vehicle.

The gunmen jumped out and began shooting at residents before and after the bomb exploded.

The Foreign Office has set up a contact telephone number for anyone concerned about relatives or friends who may have been caught up in the attacks.

The number is 020 7008 0000.