Al-Qaeda Methods Seen in Attack

Wednesday, 28 February 2007
Shooting of French Nationals could Affect Tourism

By Sabria S Jawhar
The Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH
THE slaying of four French nationals near Madina shared similar characteristics of an Al-Qaeda attack, a security source said Tuesday.

But Ministry of Interior officials said it’s too early to determine whether the attacks were terror-related.


“I noticed Al-Qaeda-covered style in this operation,” said a Saudi security official, who asked not to identified.
He said that people must keep in mind that there are still sleeper cells waiting for a signal to start operations. He said, “what is better than a quiet and isolated place like that near Madina to hide and hunt down foreigners,” he added.

Saudi officials have always maintained that terrorism has not been completely defeated in the Kingdom. Yet, unlike the neighboring countries, the security situation is still under control.

“We have security all over the country and our work is still going on whether there are threats or not,” said the security official.

Abdullah Al-Sultan, a political analyst, did not comment on whether the attack has Al-Qaeda characteristics, but he also did not rule out the possibility of sleeper cells. He said terrorists usually change their tactics to make it more difficult for law authorities to foil their attacks.

“The more progress security men achieve, the more new tactics those groups (terrorists) come up with,” Al-Sultan said.

On Monday, four Frenchmen were fatally shot near the historic site of Madain Saleh in the northwest region of the Kingdom.

The men were resting on the side of a road about 10 miles north of Madina when gunmen fired at their car, instantly killing two of them. The other two men died later after they were rushed to a hospital. Women and children also were with the group but they were unhurt.

A Ministry of Interior source said that the group was 17 kilometers from the main road when the men were shot. He said that the victims decided to take that road by themselves, but it is not clear whether they were going for Umrah or simply traveling to another ancient site.

The ministry source did not comment on whether the incident would affect tourism that has been recently opened to non-Muslims. He said that 48 hours is not enough to judge, especially when there is no clear connection to terrorism.

“Let’s not jump to conclusions,” the source said, “Anything that we might say now is only a speculation.”

But Al-Sultan said that tourism is not yet a business in Saudi Arabia so he ruled out any possibility of targeting it by itself. He said if it is proved to be a terrorist attack, then the sent message is that “Al-Qaeda does exist and their attacks can be effective.”

The security official said the attack should be seen as a wake-up call for paying more attention to the tourist sites.

“If we want to promote tourism as a business we have to follow the international standards of taking care of them,” he said.” Tourist places should be guarded and checkpoints should be placed on the roads that take to them.”

Mohammad Al-Jehani, a resident of Madina, expressed concern over the business of tourism, adding that people of Al-Ola, where most of the historic sites are open for tourists, were expecting a good market in the near future.

“This attack might bring us back to the time when we used not to see a single tourist for weeks,” he said.

The Supreme Commission of Tourism refused to comment on the possible effect of such an attack of their recently introduced project to promote tourism.

Al-Sultan urged Westerners not to help terrorists to achieve their goals by leaving their jobs in the Kingdom or become intimidated by such incidents.

“Help us to fight them and put down their plans by integrating and being part of this welcoming society,” he said.

Saudi Arabia has recently started a project to promote tourism to Saudis, Arab visitors and special niche markets that are looking at the cultural heritage aspect of Saudi Arabia. Following Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States, many Saudis have started traveling regionally and not going on long-distance flights.