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CNN Sunday Morning
Explosions Rock Residential Compound in Riyadh
Aired November 09, 2003 - 08:01 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.
RENAY SAN MIGUEL, CNN ANCHOR: Well, one day after warnings that terrorist attacks could be imminent, explosions rocked the residential compound in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Now, details on this are still coming in. At least two people are known dead, but officials say the toll may be as high as 28. More than 80 others were injured.
The blasts were three miles from the U.S. Embassy, where the staff and their families were warned to stay inside the diplomatic quarter. A top Saudi official says the attack was planned and carried out by al Qaeda. Some witnesses said the bombers used what appeared to be a police car. The explosions occurred near the homes of Saudi royal family members and diplomatic compounds.
In Saudi Arabia, the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh confirms one American wounded and another missing in the Riyadh bombing. Our Caroline Faraj is on the phone form Dubai. She joins us now with more -- Caroline.
CAROLINE FARAJ, CNN.COM: Well, yes. The Saudi officials, now they are basically still working on finding more details about what was behind what happened, and also they're confirming to us that it was al Qaeda. And they're very sure about that. And they're basically saying that they're sure because they're using the same tools, the same strategy that they used on May 12th in Riyadh's explosion.
SAN MIGUEL: I'm wondering about those who were apparently the targets in this, not Americans, but a lot of Arabs. We're understanding from some of the witnesses there, Lebanese, Syrians, Palestinians and Indians lived in that neighborhood. Is that what you're hearing as well?
FARAJ: Exactly. This compound was earlier used by the U.S. forces there before basically leaving Saudi Arabia. However, now, it's 200 (UNINTELLIGIBLE), according to the manager of this compound. Two hundred (UNINTELLIGIBLE); only four of them basically were used by non-Arabs. The rest are Lebanese, Palestinians, as well as Syrians, correct.
SAN MIGUEL: All right. Caroline Faraj reporting for CNN.com from Dubai. Thank you so much.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: We want to take you now to the White House for reaction to the latest attacks. White House correspondent Dana Bash is waiting for us there for this angle of the story.
Good morning once again, Dana. DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi. The president is at Camp David for the weekend, and the White House says he has been informed, was informed shortly after the bombing about the situation on the ground in Saudi Arabia. No immediate comment from the White House beyond that, but the State Department did note that one American was wounded in these attacks, one American citizen, and another is unaccounted for. A U.S. official does say, however, that all U.S. Embassy personnel in Saudi Arabia are accounted for.
Now, the blast took place in a residential neighborhood, just a few miles away from the U.S. Embassy, but that and two U.S. consulates in that country were closed. The State Department closed them the day before on Friday because of the threat of terrorism. An advisory put out Friday by the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh explained that the embassy "continues to receive credible information that terrorists in Saudi Arabia have moved from the planning to operational phase of planned attacks in the kingdom."
Now, officials say they made that decision on Friday because of increased so-called chatter that the intelligence agencies were picking up. Some released audio tapes, some information coming out on Web sites and other information that U.S. officials were gathering. And that is why they decided to close the embassy and consulates on Friday. But at the time, they didn't know what the time or place or target of the potential attacks would be -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Dana, you know a little bit earlier in the broadcast we were speaking with a former CIA agent who was telling us a little bit about how well the Saudis have been able to crack down on terrorism and possibly al Qaeda. What does the White House think about the cooperation that they're getting from the Saudis on this?
BASH: Well, there was certainly some frustration not only at the White House but elsewhere in the U.S. government after the terrorist attacks on 9/11, that the Saudi government had not been helpful enough in trying to track down terrorism. Of course, most of the hijackers on 9/11, the suspected hijackers were Saudi or of Saudi decent.
However, over the past through months, especially since in May, when there was a large terrorist attack in Saudi Arabia against Saudi interests, senior officials here at the White House have said that they feel that the Saudi government had sort of a wakeup call, that they understand that this is a threat not just to Western interests, not just to American interests, but also to their government, to their kingdom. So they felt that they were getting more cooperation from this the Saudi government since that attack in May, but certainly they say they can always use more help from Saudi and from other countries around the world in tracking down terrorism.
COLLINS: All right. White House correspondent Dana Bash this morning. Thanks so much, Dana.
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 November 9, 2003 - 08:01 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RENAY SAN MIGUEL, CNN ANCHOR: Well, one day after warnings that terrorist attacks could be imminent, explosions rocked the residential compound in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Now, details on this are still coming in. At least two people are known dead, but officials say the toll may be as high as 28. More than 80 others were injured.
The blasts were three miles from the U.S. Embassy, where the staff and their families were warned to stay inside the diplomatic quarter. A top Saudi official says the attack was planned and carried out by al Qaeda. Some witnesses said the bombers used what appeared to be a police car. The explosions occurred near the homes of Saudi royal family members and diplomatic compounds.
In Saudi Arabia, the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh confirms one American wounded and another missing in the Riyadh bombing. Our Caroline Faraj is on the phone form Dubai. She joins us now with more -- Caroline.
CAROLINE FARAJ, CNN.COM: Well, yes. The Saudi officials, now they are basically still working on finding more details about what was behind what happened, and also they're confirming to us that it was al Qaeda. And they're very sure about that. And they're basically saying that they're sure because they're using the same tools, the same strategy that they used on May 12th in Riyadh's explosion.
SAN MIGUEL: I'm wondering about those who were apparently the targets in this, not Americans, but a lot of Arabs. We're understanding from some of the witnesses there, Lebanese, Syrians, Palestinians and Indians lived in that neighborhood. Is that what you're hearing as well?
FARAJ: Exactly. This compound was earlier used by the U.S. forces there before basically leaving Saudi Arabia. However, now, it's 200 (UNINTELLIGIBLE), according to the manager of this compound. Two hundred (UNINTELLIGIBLE); only four of them basically were used by non-Arabs. The rest are Lebanese, Palestinians, as well as Syrians, correct.
SAN MIGUEL: All right. Caroline Faraj reporting for CNN.com from Dubai. Thank you so much.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: We want to take you now to the White House for reaction to the latest attacks. White House correspondent Dana Bash is waiting for us there for this angle of the story.
Good morning once again, Dana. DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi. The president is at Camp David for the weekend, and the White House says he has been informed, was informed shortly after the bombing about the situation on the ground in Saudi Arabia. No immediate comment from the White House beyond that, but the State Department did note that one American was wounded in these attacks, one American citizen, and another is unaccounted for. A U.S. official does say, however, that all U.S. Embassy personnel in Saudi Arabia are accounted for.
Now, the blast took place in a residential neighborhood, just a few miles away from the U.S. Embassy, but that and two U.S. consulates in that country were closed. The State Department closed them the day before on Friday because of the threat of terrorism. An advisory put out Friday by the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh explained that the embassy "continues to receive credible information that terrorists in Saudi Arabia have moved from the planning to operational phase of planned attacks in the kingdom."
Now, officials say they made that decision on Friday because of increased so-called chatter that the intelligence agencies were picking up. Some released audio tapes, some information coming out on Web sites and other information that U.S. officials were gathering. And that is why they decided to close the embassy and consulates on Friday. But at the time, they didn't know what the time or place or target of the potential attacks would be -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Dana, you know a little bit earlier in the broadcast we were speaking with a former CIA agent who was telling us a little bit about how well the Saudis have been able to crack down on terrorism and possibly al Qaeda. What does the White House think about the cooperation that they're getting from the Saudis on this?
BASH: Well, there was certainly some frustration not only at the White House but elsewhere in the U.S. government after the terrorist attacks on 9/11, that the Saudi government had not been helpful enough in trying to track down terrorism. Of course, most of the hijackers on 9/11, the suspected hijackers were Saudi or of Saudi decent.
However, over the past through months, especially since in May, when there was a large terrorist attack in Saudi Arabia against Saudi interests, senior officials here at the White House have said that they feel that the Saudi government had sort of a wakeup call, that they understand that this is a threat not just to Western interests, not just to American interests, but also to their government, to their kingdom. So they felt that they were getting more cooperation from this the Saudi government since that attack in May, but certainly they say they can always use more help from Saudi and from other countries around the world in tracking down terrorism.
COLLINS: All right. White House correspondent Dana Bash this morning. Thanks so much, Dana.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
