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| Arabia |
| Manhunt Continues for the Three Escaped Terrorists |
| 2004-06-01 |
| The hunt was on yesterday for three terrorists who escaped a massive security cordon after a bloody rampage that left 22 people dead, amid fears of even worse terror to come. The three terrorists were among the four who held foreign hostages at the Oasis Compound in the Golden Belt area in Alkhobar. While their leader was captured in an early morning swoop on the compound by special forces, three of them escaped the dragnet under cover of darkness on Sunday morning. The trio then seized another car in a residential area of Dammam and pursued their flight, witnesses said. âThree armed men dressed in black sports gear waved guns and took my car in Dammam where they abandoned a pickup truck,â Sultan Al-Otaibi said. âIt happened Sunday about 3 a.m. when my neighbor Nashaat, a Palestinian mechanic, was driving the car,â he said. This means the gunmen who had taken dozens of people hostage and slit the throats of nine people had disappeared well before troops launched an assault at 5.30 a.m. on a building in the compound where the militants had been holed up since Saturday. Yesterday afternoon security officials received word that the three wanted fugitives were hiding in the Salman Al-Farsy Mosque on Dhahran Street in Alkhobar. The mosque and its vicinity were immediately cordoned off. The adjacent street was closed to the traffic for a few minutes and shops nearby were asked to close their doors. However, by that time the attackers had fled. The muezzin of the mosque, Nurul Huda, told Arab News that around 4.30 p.m. security forces surrounded the mosque and some officers entered his room on the premises. âThey just asked me to stay in my room and left locking the door from outside.â He did not hear gunshots and said he was not aware anyone other than the imam, Mazen Al-Tamimi, was on the premises. The police questioned and later detained the imam, who is alleged to have harbored the three terrorists. The imam, who lost one leg in Bosnia where he went to fight against the Serbs, was described as quiet and introvert. The police continued their search of the area, but withdrew when they realized that the gunmen had escaped. There had also been exchange of gunfire between the fugitives and security forces on the Old Airport Road near SCECO Sub-Station. Residents in an adjacent housing compound, Mohawis, confirmed that they heard gunshots in the early hours of Sunday. It appears that the men were intercepted by a small patrol nearby and opened fire on security personnel trying to stop them and got away. President George W. Bush yesterday called Crown Prince Abdullah to offer his condolences on the deadly attacks, while congratulating him on his governmentâs handling of the bloody rampage, a spokeswoman said. âThe president expressed his condolences on the loss of life in the terrorist attack,â White House spokeswoman Pamela Stevens said. âHe congratulated the crown prince on the way that the Saudis dealt with the attack. He reaffirmed his commitment to the global war on terror and to assisting Saudi Arabia in dealing with these kinds of Al-Qaeda attacks,â she said. Australia and Britain have led warnings of worse to come in the Kingdom after Saturdayâs attacks which also targeted two oil company office blocks. The Times of London said intelligence agencies feared a âspectacular attackâ, listing key oil installations or the King Fahd Causeway as possible targets. âWe continue to believe that terrorists remain determined to carry out further attacks in Saudi Arabia, and that these may be in the final stages of preparation,â the Foreign Office said Sunday, advising against all but essential travel to the Kingdom. âThe threat includes, but is not limited to, residential compounds and diplomatic and other official premises.â |
| Posted by:Anonymous4617 |
| #2 dressed in black sports gear What the young urban jihadis are wearing this season. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-06-01 3:33:08 PM |
| #1 Here's a suggestion for next time, boys. If you want to actually catch them, setup your ambush at any nearby mosque. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2004-06-01 9:50:02 AM |