Masked men looking for Westerners in Saudi Arabia held a security guard at gunpoint last week outside a local firm in the Eastern Province, where militants killed 19 foreigners in a shooting spree in May. A company employee said on Saturday three gunmen drove up to the gate of the construction materials factory, part of the al-Zamil Group, in Dammam on Wednesday and asked the guard if any Americans, Britons or other Westerners worked there. "They left when the guard told them that no Westerners were working there," Abu Aaref al-Shammari told Reuters, adding the gunmen had threatened to kill the guard if he moved. The incident may indicate that militants were still trying to attack Westerners in the world’s largest oil exporter despite last month’s killing of the al Qaeda leader in Saudi Arabia, Abdulaziz al-Muqrin, in a clash with security forces.
Shammari said the company had summoned the police, who launched an investigation. He said a German glass expert, who had been doing some work for the company, left Saudi Arabia after the incident. Shammari said that from the guard’s account, the gunmen appeared to be "troublemakers" who had been influenced by the recent attacks in the kingdom.
| "I'll kill yez if yez make a move!" Yep. Sounds like a troublemaker to me. |
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