May 2, 2004
By Dominic Evans

RIYADH (Reuters) - A Western engineering firm said on Sunday it was evacuating all 90 foreign staff from the Saudi city of Yanbu after gunmen shot dead five of their colleagues.

The U.S. embassy restricted the movement of its diplomats to mission bases and urged Americans to leave the kingdom.

There was no immediate indication if the latest attack would prompt an exodus among the 35,000 Americans -- a move that could badly damage the economy of the world's biggest oil exporter.

Saudi Arabia has been battling a year-long insurgency by supporters of Saudi-born Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network.

Saturday's attack, the first against a vital economic facility, suggested militants were determined to act on threats to destabilize the kingdom and force Westerners out.

Two Americans, two Britons and an Australian were killed in the shooting. The body of one victim was dragged by car through the streets of the Red Sea industrial city.

Yanbu residents said two bearded gunmen dressed in Western clothing dragged the corpse past two local schools and residential areas, firing into the air to attract attention and yelling "God is greatest."

"Look how we are dragging this American. Go inform the government about what you just saw," a teacher at one of the schools quoted a gunman as telling students and teachers.

"Leave your homes and wage jihad," the gunmen shouted.

Security sources said the attackers were two sets of brothers from the same family -- Sami, Samir, Ayman and Hani al-Ansari.

U.S. CONFINES DIPLOMATS

The U.S. embassy told staff to keep a low profile and urged other Americans to do the same while also reminding them of advice last month that they should leave the Gulf state.

"The U.S. mission in Saudi Arabia wishes to advise the American community that until further notice, mission American employees will limit their movements off the diplomatic quarter in Riyadh and the consulate compounds in Jeddah and Dhahran to essential activities only," it said.

The Westerners killed on Saturday included the top three officials at an upgrade project being carried out by Swiss-based firm ABB Lummus at the Saudi petrochemical firm YANPET, jointly owned by U.S. Exxon Mobil and Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) .

ABB Lummus said all 90 of its expatriate staff and around 30 dependents were being evacuated from Yanbu.

"Given the choice of staying under tighter security or leaving, they opted for leaving," spokesman Bjorn Edlund said.

Other expatriates in the city said it was too soon to decide. "It's been a shock," said one. "There's been no panic but everyone is concerned and they will have to decide what steps to take."

Saudi police beefed up security in the city, home to a large foreign business community, erecting checkpoints and roadblocks, after Saturday's attack. The four gunmen were later killed in clashes with police. Two officers also died and 18 were injured.

Crown Prince Abdullah said "foreign elements" were behind the attack. The Saudi ambassador to Britain said it was al Qaeda.

State oil firm Saudi Aramco has vowed to guard vital oil assets and protect employees.

Riyadh has cracked down on al Qaeda militants since a series of suicide bombings on residential compounds in the capital last year killed more than 50 people, including nine Americans.

That followed intense U.S. pressure on Riyadh to act after the September 11, 2001 airliner attacks on U.S. cities in which most of the hijackers were Saudis.

But despite a security clampdown, militants seem determined to heed al Qaeda calls to widen the conflict and destabilize what they see as "apostate" rulers allied with Washington.

Last month a suicide bomber destroyed a police building in Riyadh, killing five people in the first major attack on a government target. In Saturday's rampage, the gunmen fired on U.S. fast food chain McDonald's, the Holiday Inn hotel and threw a pipebomb at an international school. (Additional reporting by Peg Mackey and Samia Nakhoul in Dubai, Khalid al-Fadli in Jeddah)

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=574&ncid=721&e=1&u=/nm/20040502/wl_nm/security_saudi_dc