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U.S. Closes Embassy in Riyadh

Aired May 14, 2003 - 10:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Closer to home, Washington has closed the U.S. embassy in Riyadh amid Saudi warnings that more terror attacks could be planned. Earlier this morning, the death toll climbed to 34, including 8 Americans. And both Saudi Arabia and the U.S. believe that al Qaeda is behind the coordinated attacks.
Our national security correspondent, David Ensor, standing by in our Washington bureau. He checks in now with the very latest. Morning, David. What is the word there?

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Leon, yes, as you say, both Saudi and U.S. officials believe al Qaeda is behind the attacks, and obviously there's going to be a very intense investigation now.

But U.S. officials are also concerned there could be additional terrorist attacks soon, saying there's information suggesting plots in Africa, in Asia, and in the Middle East. None of the information is specific as to targets or timing, but officials are saying that the targets could include official buildings such as, obviously, embassies and consulates as well as softer targets.

Now, Saudi officials are telling reporters that they believe the mastermind, the ring leader, so to speak, of these attacks in Riyadh was an individual named Khalid Mohammed Musalim al-Jahani (ph). This is he on a tape that was captured by the U.S. and released by the Justice Department in January of last year. This was captured in a safe house in Kabul. This is one of those martyrdom tapes in which al Qaeda individuals say that they plan to conduct a martyrdom attack, to die in the process. But apparently he did not do that, and U.S. officials say they believe he made his way into Saudi Arabia and he may have played a key role in these plots, although U.S. officials are less convinced of that than Saudi officials. They say there are a couple of other, sort of, core al Qaeda personnel that they are also looking at as possible ring leaders of the plots in Riyadh. They're not ready to say that this individual is necessarily the man who organized it -- Leon.

HARRIS: Well, David, 24 hours ago the big question was, how much cooperation would U.S. authorities get from the Saudis in this investigation. All right. A day later, is there any evidence on that yet?

ENSOR: It's just not clear yet whether the cooperation is going to be as fulsome as it will need be to if both the Saudis and the Americans are going to stop future attacks. The U.S. is pressing hard to get the kind of real partnership and trust that it needs for both sides to be able to conduct this investigation effectively, but it's just a little too early to say whether or not that's going to be the case. As you know, it hasn't always been in the past.

HARRIS: Exactly. That's the question. All right. Good deal. Thanks, David. We'll see you soon. David Ensor in Washington.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired May 14, 2003 - 10:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Closer to home, Washington has closed the U.S. embassy in Riyadh amid Saudi warnings that more terror attacks could be planned. Earlier this morning, the death toll climbed to 34, including 8 Americans. And both Saudi Arabia and the U.S. believe that al Qaeda is behind the coordinated attacks.
Our national security correspondent, David Ensor, standing by in our Washington bureau. He checks in now with the very latest. Morning, David. What is the word there?

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Leon, yes, as you say, both Saudi and U.S. officials believe al Qaeda is behind the attacks, and obviously there's going to be a very intense investigation now.

But U.S. officials are also concerned there could be additional terrorist attacks soon, saying there's information suggesting plots in Africa, in Asia, and in the Middle East. None of the information is specific as to targets or timing, but officials are saying that the targets could include official buildings such as, obviously, embassies and consulates as well as softer targets.

Now, Saudi officials are telling reporters that they believe the mastermind, the ring leader, so to speak, of these attacks in Riyadh was an individual named Khalid Mohammed Musalim al-Jahani (ph). This is he on a tape that was captured by the U.S. and released by the Justice Department in January of last year. This was captured in a safe house in Kabul. This is one of those martyrdom tapes in which al Qaeda individuals say that they plan to conduct a martyrdom attack, to die in the process. But apparently he did not do that, and U.S. officials say they believe he made his way into Saudi Arabia and he may have played a key role in these plots, although U.S. officials are less convinced of that than Saudi officials. They say there are a couple of other, sort of, core al Qaeda personnel that they are also looking at as possible ring leaders of the plots in Riyadh. They're not ready to say that this individual is necessarily the man who organized it -- Leon.

HARRIS: Well, David, 24 hours ago the big question was, how much cooperation would U.S. authorities get from the Saudis in this investigation. All right. A day later, is there any evidence on that yet?

ENSOR: It's just not clear yet whether the cooperation is going to be as fulsome as it will need be to if both the Saudis and the Americans are going to stop future attacks. The U.S. is pressing hard to get the kind of real partnership and trust that it needs for both sides to be able to conduct this investigation effectively, but it's just a little too early to say whether or not that's going to be the case. As you know, it hasn't always been in the past.

HARRIS: Exactly. That's the question. All right. Good deal. Thanks, David. We'll see you soon. David Ensor in Washington.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com