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U.S. Warns of Possible New Terrorist Plot in Saudi Arabia
Aired May 16, 2003 - 10:05 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.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: There is a travel warning which is urging cautions for Americans in Saudi Arabia just four days after terrorists launched simultaneous strikes against three compounds housing Westerners. The State Department says Americans and Westerners may be the targets of yet another plot.
Our senior international correspondent, Sheila MacVicar, is in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. She is joining us by phone this morning.
Sheila -- hello.
SHEILA MACVICAR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.
I'm at one of those three compounds, which was attacked on Monday night. This is the compound called Jadawel, a compound which is home to employees of companies like Boeing, many companies which have contracts with Saudi Air Force.
This is the only compound where the guards successfully stopped the attackers from reaching the heart of the compound. On duty here on Monday night were Saudi Air Force guards. They were able to raise a barricade and prevent the truck carrying the bomb from getting into the compound, as it did in the other cases. The bombers exploded their vehicle at the front gate. It is one of the reasons why casualties were relatively light here.
There were seven dead here, a number injured, but not the scene of massive devastation and in fact death that we saw at some of the other compounds.
This is still a very well-guarded compound, Daryn. You were talking about the increased -- the level of -- the threat level still being very high, again being elevated with U.S. officials saying that they believe the risk of an additional attack, perhaps this time in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah being, as they described, imminent.
Here on the streets we are seeing, outside this compound at any rate, pickup trucks with heavily-armed guards in the back, thorough searches of anybody attempting to enter into these compounds. And clearly in the compound itself, it's pretty empty and it feels like many people have, in fact, left for home -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Sheila, tell us more about what they did at this particular compound? Were they listening to some of those State Department warnings that came out earlier in the month that were not heeded by the Saudi government? MACVICAR: Again, this is a compound that was under guard by Saudi Air Force guards. They were armed. They were in a position to have sort of, if you will, almost like an anti-tank barrier, a metal barrier which could be raised in the middle of a road to prevent a vehicle from entering that had not been cleared to enter. The Saudi guards were able to respond very quickly when the shootings started, as it did in other compounds, the attackers sort of blasted their way into the compounds by killing the guards, getting into the heart of the compound before exploding their devices.
What happened here was the Saudi guards, well-armed, well-trained Saudi Air Force guards, who were aware apparently of the increased state of alert, were able to make sure that metal barricade was up. The truck carrying the bomb apparently got hung up on that metal barricade. That was where it exploded. Because it was still outside the walls of the compound, the damage -- the interior damage to the compound, although it was great enough to cause seven deaths, it was not as great as it had been in some of the other places -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Sheila MacVicar in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, thank you.
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 16, 2003 - 10:05 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: There is a travel warning which is urging cautions for Americans in Saudi Arabia just four days after terrorists launched simultaneous strikes against three compounds housing Westerners. The State Department says Americans and Westerners may be the targets of yet another plot.
Our senior international correspondent, Sheila MacVicar, is in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. She is joining us by phone this morning.
Sheila -- hello.
SHEILA MACVICAR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.
I'm at one of those three compounds, which was attacked on Monday night. This is the compound called Jadawel, a compound which is home to employees of companies like Boeing, many companies which have contracts with Saudi Air Force.
This is the only compound where the guards successfully stopped the attackers from reaching the heart of the compound. On duty here on Monday night were Saudi Air Force guards. They were able to raise a barricade and prevent the truck carrying the bomb from getting into the compound, as it did in the other cases. The bombers exploded their vehicle at the front gate. It is one of the reasons why casualties were relatively light here.
There were seven dead here, a number injured, but not the scene of massive devastation and in fact death that we saw at some of the other compounds.
This is still a very well-guarded compound, Daryn. You were talking about the increased -- the level of -- the threat level still being very high, again being elevated with U.S. officials saying that they believe the risk of an additional attack, perhaps this time in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah being, as they described, imminent.
Here on the streets we are seeing, outside this compound at any rate, pickup trucks with heavily-armed guards in the back, thorough searches of anybody attempting to enter into these compounds. And clearly in the compound itself, it's pretty empty and it feels like many people have, in fact, left for home -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Sheila, tell us more about what they did at this particular compound? Were they listening to some of those State Department warnings that came out earlier in the month that were not heeded by the Saudi government? MACVICAR: Again, this is a compound that was under guard by Saudi Air Force guards. They were armed. They were in a position to have sort of, if you will, almost like an anti-tank barrier, a metal barrier which could be raised in the middle of a road to prevent a vehicle from entering that had not been cleared to enter. The Saudi guards were able to respond very quickly when the shootings started, as it did in other compounds, the attackers sort of blasted their way into the compounds by killing the guards, getting into the heart of the compound before exploding their devices.
What happened here was the Saudi guards, well-armed, well-trained Saudi Air Force guards, who were aware apparently of the increased state of alert, were able to make sure that metal barricade was up. The truck carrying the bomb apparently got hung up on that metal barricade. That was where it exploded. Because it was still outside the walls of the compound, the damage -- the interior damage to the compound, although it was great enough to cause seven deaths, it was not as great as it had been in some of the other places -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Sheila MacVicar in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
