June 08, 2004
KHOBAR: AN INSIDER'S STORY
Reader N.D. forwards an e-mail received from Saudi Arabia which details last month's Khobar massacre from within. N.D. explains: "I lived [in Saudi] for several years and remain in contact with friends who are still there.
"I don't know the guys mentioned in this e-mail personally, and I've received this e-mail about fourth hand, nevertheless I have no reason to doubt its authenticity ... The spelling mistakes probably arise from someone typing quickly and under some stress." The email, edited to conceal identities, is reproduced below (not italicised, due to length):
Things have got a little hot round here, Contrary to what you are reading on the news, here is the real story. At 6.45 Saturday morning six terrorists scaled the walls of Oasis 3 compound. At the same time another five drove up to the main Vehicle Check Point. There was a civilian car in front of the terrorists and the school bus behind in the que.
There are two gates, supposedly to provide an inspection area.( drive through one the door closes behind. Car gets inspected second door opens car drives onto the compound etc). It appears the internal door was open all the time, so as soon as the car in front of the terrorists drove in. A terrorist popped the sun roof of there vehicle and took out the armed gaurds with machine gun fire. ( Saudi guards were probably asleep as usual).
He then turned round and opened up on the school bus killing two kids and injuring four others two of which are in critical condition 5 and 7 year olds. Fortunatley at this point the terrorists decided to drive into the main compound area giving G. (a security guard) the opportunity to get everybody off the bus and spirit them away to a safe area in the compound.
The terrorists then went on the rampage kicking in doors and slitting the throats of any non-muslims they could find. They took 54 hostages and put them on the sixth floor of the guest hotel in the centre of the compound.
They then booby-trapped all the exits and proceeded to fortify there position. The Soha Towers Hotel. The correct name for the building taken in the siege is located at the far East end of the compound as an attachment to the Soha Oasis. During the first minutes of the initial assault the military personnel on site are reported to have fired over 1000 rounds of 50cal into the building.
At the same time as the attack at Oasis, another group of four went into the Petroleum centre which is next to the DHL building on the main Doha to Khobar road. they opened fire on the occupants killing B. and two phillipino's who had the balls to try and stop them killing B. The police arrived and killed two on site. A third was killed running from the building and the forth escaped over the wall into Al Hada compound.
At the same time as the first two sites were being hit a third group hit the APICORP buiding about quater of a mile away down the Khobar Dammam highway next to raka compound. They used an RPG on the gatehouse and once inside began slitting the throats of non-muslim's. It amazes me how many people managed to survived these injuries. K. got shot as he drove up to the apicorp gates for work.
They dragged him out of the car still alive and tied him to the back of there four wheel drive and drove of up the raka road to the Dammam highway.They made it as far as the intersection lights before a Saudi Civilian rammed there car off the road. They shot him dead before he could get out of his car. The police shot the terrorists before they could make there escape.
The guy who escaped from the Petroleum centre made his way up to the holiday Inn and hijacked a car. before escaping he shot up the holiday Inn however there were no casualties except the building.
Back at Oasis the Saudi Special Forces surrounded the place. at 9.30pm G. managed to get the teachers and kids that were on the bus out presumably through the underground car park to safety.
At about two am on the Sunday morning the Saudi Special Forces attempted to enter the hotel section (not realising it had been booby trapped) and several of them were injured in two explosions. They pulled back when the terrorists threatened to kill the hostages. At 4am two brit C130's landed at Daharan military airbase and according to the british ambassador, members of SO12 provided "logicstical" support to the Saudi Forces. I am told they infiltrated the compond under the cover of darkness but I cant get anyone to confirm this.
At 6.30 am the Saudi Special forces arrive in to National Guard Kowasaki KC113, a smaller version of a chinuck, land on the roof of the hotel and storm the building. During the 0230 assault 2 American military officers were injured both of which were admitted to SAAD Specialist hospital and later flown out to Kuwait.
Following this incident a vehicle was reported to be driving around the Khobar area with 4 armed males on board. The proceeded to kill and injure another 11 security and military personnel located at approximately 5 other compounds with one being confirmed as the Golden Belt. During and after the 0230 incident a number of shots could be herd from different areas of Khobar some small arms fire and some heavy machine gun fire.
The second attack started at 0530 with what was a ground attack and could be considered as a diversion whilst the main assault force approached by air from the south in 4 flights. During the chopper recovery heavy gun fire appeared to be aimed at the helicopters from a position approximately 2 kilometres south of the oasis.
There was very little gunfire and the terrorists surrendered. 7 were captured and two killed. Three others escaped. It is unclear how they managed this with the whole building surrounded with Special Forces. The implication is that they had help.
There is no doubt in my mind that the terrorists were allowed to "escape" if not even escorted away from the facility. The lay out and position of the building is such that an escape attempt would be virtually impossible.
There was a steady stream of ambulances comming out of Oasis all day so the injury toll was a lot higher than anyone here is letting on. Tension is high here and there are unconfirmed reports of shootouts in several parts of Khobar and Dammam. We can hear gunfire but its a fair distance from where we are.
In response to M's question. Its your choice as to whether you decide to come back, there are lots of people "getting out of dodge" as fast as they can. My feeling is this is a time for cool heads, logical thourght and consise action. Irrational people make irrational decisions. For me I'm comfortable to stay at present, however I am evaluating the situation on an hour by hour basis and I'll keep you updated.
On the positive side they have effectivley taken out 17 terrorists and with the prisoners I would expect they will find and arrest a lot more.( The geneaver convention dont apply here so these boys are going to wish they'ed been killed)
Lots of people are scared and there is a feeling of paranoir about, mostly from people who wer'nt anywhere near the site of the action. The locals have been great about this, they are as shocked and disgusted as the expats. More worrying is there fear that this may turn into a full scale revolution. That would mean a slaughter of the sheite population and they are shitting bricks. Having said that from what I'm seeing the government troops have got it pretty well squared away and are on top of any incedents pretty dam quick.
I'm okay as I've said just keep an eye on your e-mail boxes for updates.
UPDATE. Lots more on this from Belmont Club.
Posted by Tim Blair at June 8, 2004 05:28 PM"They made it as far as the intersection lights before a Saudi Civilian rammed there car off the road. They shot him dead before he could get out of his car." The civilian was a real hero, a true martyr. It would be so much better if he survived.
Posted by: ic at June 8, 2004 at 05:40 PMMy partner's sister in law was living on the 3rd floor there until 2 months ago; she's a nurse, and she decided not to renew her contract. If she had she would now be dead. The chef from the Gold Coast who was killed was a very good friend of hers and actually got her the job there in the first place.
Time to extract all friendlies and see if the neutron weapon works, I feel.
Interesting and disturbing account. It seems unbelievable the terrorists could have pulled off what they did without some type of help. (Especially considering the terrorists were not all killed while escaping.)
Seems as if the terrorists had collaborators among the guards, workers, and/or Saudi forces at the various sites. Who knows, maybe even some of the residents have been recruited, or planted, by the terrorists.
I think if I were there I'd want to arm my household. Don't know if this is allowed, but I wouldn't want to stay without having some way to fight back. I'd also want to hire some better guards. Ex-military types from one of the Anglo countries would be my choice for guards.
I wonder what the 'world community' will want to do if there is some sort of revolution in Saudi Arabia and Al Queda types want to take over? Will the UN mediate? Send forces? What will the EU response be?
It's actually a great time for a revolution, in terms of what countries would be able to help by sending troops. The reliable nations are rather tied up at the moment. If I wanted to stage a revolution in Saudi Arabia, I'd probably be thinking that now is as good a time as any.
Screw the money! I would be outa there! Can't spend it when you're dead. Heard some good commentary on the ABC radio this am and these fanatics are even too whacked out for everyday Saudi's it seems. Saudi's facinate me. There culture both repulses and attracts me with a morbid facination on would reserve for car wreck.
I wish them luck against these utter fruitloops.
Posted by: Dog at June 8, 2004 at 06:48 PMIt's difficult to imagine a more foul place than Saudi Arabia - a perfect locale for islam's holiest sites. Can anyone say "alternate sources of energy"???
Posted by: Sean at June 8, 2004 at 06:57 PMThe real story here is the number of terrorists involved. I stopped counting that about twenty yet the official media statement reports four.
Imagine what oil prices would have been last week, and might be this week, if that little piece of news had made out into the world.
Posted by: Stan at June 8, 2004 at 07:13 PMABC must immediately petition SauDi Arabia to afford these "Militants" the rights due to them under the Genava Convention and make sure none are abused as in the case Of ABU GRAIB !
Or there will be Socialist workers organised demos in Melbourne bext week !
Money quote: (The geneaver convention dont apply here so these boys are going to wish they'ed been killed)
This is from a movie, right?
The guy who escaped from the Petroleum centre made his way up to the holiday Inn and hijacked a car. before escaping he shot up the holiday Inn however there were no casualties except the building.
Slatts,
This ain't no party. This ain't no disco. This ain't no foolin' around.
Posted by: Cybrludite at June 8, 2004 at 08:26 PMHabib, did you skip the part where the writer said the locals were "as shocked and disgusted as the expats"?
Posted by: Andrea Harris at June 8, 2004 at 09:01 PMRegards the guy who hoofed it from the PetCtr to the Holiday Inn, after hiding in the Hada Compound for some period of time - he had quite a hike: about 3-4 miles. He probably lifted a car there in Hada or the connected StemCo compound and was changing cars at the HI.
I lived in the new units in Hada for awhile - and my balcony overlooked the bldg between the PetCtr & Hada. Note that the wall is about 8-9 ft high - I think the gate in the wall must've been open (or opened - remote controlled by the gate guards across the street in Al Zahra Compound). Lots of oddities in the tiny bit I know first-hand of the area.
Only visited Oasis once to check it out - waay too expensive for most people. We're talking 200K+ SR / yr - that's over $50K USD or over $4K USD / month. Nice digs, fine security, a fortress - all wasted because guards are vulnerable -- and they're Saudis.
Note, also, that most of the larger compounds regularly have Saudi Security Force guys, 1 or 2, hanging around and that Saturday is their Monday (Thu & Fri = weekend) so they would've been there if not too early for them. I'll bet Oasis had a couple of regulars. Al Bustan village, of which Hada, StemCo, and Zahra are all part, had some.
Answering a question above - we're not allowed to have firearms in The Magic Kingdom. But you can buy a real hickory axe handle at SACO - I kept one in my car and the Aramco gate guards thought it menacing. Not much against automatic weapons in the hands of asshats who'll shoot anything and anyone without regard - thinking of the schoolbus.
So there were approx 20 bad guys. How many actual victims? 22 dead now sounds very low. Anyone have more details?
Posted by: .com at June 8, 2004 at 10:23 PMI said evacuate the friendlies- that includes locals. I've still got friends in the Middle East- not all of them are WASPs. I've got no problem with Arabs- I have a real problem with fundamentalist sociopaths.
Posted by: Habib at June 8, 2004 at 10:30 PM'Can anyone say "alternate sources of energy"???'.
Well yes but unfortunately "alternative energy" will not diminish the US's oil requirements. For a realistic appraisal of "alternative energy" see the current debate at http://denbeste.nu/.
The only realistic alternative energy resource that the US can use in the immediate future for electricity and heating water on a large scale is nuclear fission reactors - preferably fast breeders to generate more fuel for more reactors.
For transport methanol made from natural gas could use existing infrastructure to fuel vehicles powered by fuel cells.
See http://www.methanol.org/fuelcell/index.cfm
These are two programs that the US could (and should) be building right now.
Posted by: Tony at June 9, 2004 at 12:06 AMIf this description of events is correct, it means the official accounts are mostly fiction. And once the original reports had been made, journalists had little interest in getting deeper.
Posted by: Jan Haugland at June 9, 2004 at 12:13 AMHow al-Qaeda is currently playing with the Saudi "security forces" also gives me a very uneasy feeling. It's like watching a rerun of the German blitzkrieg against France in 1940.
Posted by: Jan Haugland at June 9, 2004 at 02:24 AMI have a sneaking suspicion that the Sauds are in real trouble right now, and they know it. They will crack down hard, but I wouldn't be surprised if there isn't a general uprising before long. We're all going to be in deep doodoo then.
Posted by: Rebecca at June 9, 2004 at 04:44 AMHow al-Qaeda is currently playing with the Saudi "security forces" also gives me a very uneasy feeling. It's like watching a rerun of the German blitzkrieg against France in 1940.
No. More like how the NSDAP were playing with the German Police in the 1920's. Look up "Beer hall putch" some time, and note how many (few) years Adolph got for trying to stage a coup.
Ursus Maritimus
Posted by: Ursus Maritimus at June 9, 2004 at 04:58 AM
>They will crack down hard, but I wouldn't be
>surprised if there isn't a general uprising
>before long. We're all going to be in deep doodoo
>then.
Good. Better to stand waist-deep in it for a little while, pumping it out for good, than to keep standing in it up to our ankles for _another_ thirty years.
And think how happy all of the "what about Saudi Arabia, huh?" anti-war activists will be.
To quote Warren Zevon:
"Send lawyers, guns, and money the shit has hit the fan"
Wonder, what are the odds that there's a controllable number of these birds? There doesn't seem to be that much evidence that they're the tip of any iceberg--though the worst-case speculation is rampant thataway. Any chance there's only a few hundred of 'em in the Kingdom?
Posted by: Buddy Larsen at June 9, 2004 at 05:06 PMWonder, what are the odds that there's a controllable number of these birds? There doesn't seem to be that much evidence that they're the tip of any iceberg--though the worst-case speculation is rampant thataway. Any chance there's only a few hundred of 'em in the Kingdom?
Posted by: Buddy Larsen at June 9, 2004 at 05:06 PM--'Can anyone say "alternate sources of energy"???'.--
Doesn't matter, Tony. What we don't use, China will absorb. Money flow will not stop. It'll only stop when enough of them are dead so they finally get the message.
And that number will be in the 10s if not 100s of millions.
---
Look at it alternatively. US goes balls out, gets new process. Could almost bankrupt US. World will "demand/whine" they should get it for free. SA already said they/ME should be compensated if/when oil usage stops. They're wacko if we pay them for the only thing they have to offer.
Take that away and you think problems disappear? No, mad cos they can't afford modern conveniences like AC and food and they're dependent on the infidel still.
We're going to pay either way.
>>>It'll only stop when enough of them are dead so they finally get the message. And that number will be in the 10s if not 100s of millions.
I really do hope that this possibility is sinking in for the peoples of the ME. I mean, there's only so much damage the citizens of the US will absorb before concluding that the only way to end Islamic fanaticism is with one cataclysmic fell swoop.
I certainly hope that never happens but I suspect that if Islamic terrorists were to employ WMD against 2 or more US cities, the public would demand it.
Moreover, I hope they realize that we couldn't take half measures -- there'd be no use melting SA and leaving Iran, Egypt, Pakistan et al standing, since they would just spawn even more fanatics. The problem would have to be solved "Once and For All", as it were.
I realize that the possibility is as unimaginable as it is horrifying -- but if anyone thinks we wouldn't do whatever we have to do to defend ourselves, taken in its broadest meaning, they're deluded.
Let's hope the ME can fix its problem before we have to fix it for them.
Posted by: John at June 10, 2004 at 05:42 AM154 Jihad Verses in the Koran: www.angelfire.com/moon/yoelnatan/koranwarpassages.htm
Posted by: Will Smythe at June 11, 2004 at 03:11 PM[...]the only way to end Islamic fanaticism is with one cataclysmic fell swoop. I certainly hope that never happens but I suspect that if Islamic terrorists were to employ WMD against 2 or more US cities, the public would demand it.
One will be more than enough. Contrary to leftist opinion, Americans are not stupid.
It does look like it's crunch time for the House of Saud. Al Qaida seems to be developing an interest in putting down roots in SA via armed revolution; the obvious goal is control of oil. Oil sabatoge in Iraq is also high on their list of activities, but coalition security there makes it very hazzardous for them. Undoubtedly there is a very sizable political base for them in the Saudi Arabian populace. Problem for them is they must be dreaming if they think for one minute that they could overthrow the monarchy there and not be wiped off the planet by the US immediately.
Posted by: Big at June 11, 2004 at 08:38 PMTo quote Warren Zevon:
"Send lawyers, guns, and money the shit has hit the fan"
Lawyers? Really!
At our shooting range we use paper targets.
Posted by: Peter at June 12, 2004 at 10:27 AM