Gunmen open fire at Saudi petrochemical plant, killing six including two American engineers

Saturday, May 1st 2004, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) _ Gunmen entered the office of an oil contractor in Saudi Arabia Saturday and began shooting at random, killing at least six people _ two American engineers, two Britons, an Australian and a Saudi _ in what a Saudi official called an ``indiscriminate evil rampage.''

The attackers opened fire at a petrochemical plant co-owned by Exxon Mobil in Yanbu, 550 miles west of Riyadh, the Interior Ministry said in a written statement.

The assailants fled into residential neighborhoods of Yanbu and commandeered cars, ``but security forces were able to kill three of them and injure and capture the fourth,'' the statement said.

It did not give a motive for the killing, and there was no immediate claim of responsibility by any terrorist group. But it is the latest in a string of attacks on foreigners in Saudi Arabia, an important U.S. ally.

``Our hearts go out to the families of the innocent victims of the horrific attack in Yanbu early this morning,'' said Prince Turki al-Faisal, the Saudi ambassador to Britain.

``We will not be discouraged by this brutal incident in which innocent lives were lost, British, American and Australian, as well as Saudi Arabian, and many people injured in an indiscriminate evil rampage.''

Two Americans were killed and one hospitalized, the U.S. State Department said.

The two were engineers for ABB-Lummus, the energy arm of multinational engineering company ABB, the company said. A British ABB employee, a British contractor and an Australian employee were also killed, spokesman Bjorn Edlund said from Zurich, Switzerland. Two American ABB-Lummus employees were wounded in the attack, he said. He wasn't sure how many others were wounded.

A spokeswoman from Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade identified the Australian killed in the attack as Anthony Richard Mason, 57, from the state of Western Australia.

European diplomats, who confirmed the five Westerners had died, also said a member of the Saudi national guard was killed. A Saudi police captain was seriously wounded, the diplomats said on condition of anonymity. A Canadian diplomat in Riyadh said two Canadian citizens also were hospitalized, but the diplomat had no details on their condition.

Saudi Arabia relies heavily on 6 million expatriate workers, including about 30,000 Americans, to run its oil industry and other sectors. The plant in Yanbu is co-owned by Exxon Mobil and Saudi company SABIC.

The last attack that killed Americans in Saudi was in May 2003, when eight Americans were among 34 people killed in a series of coordinated suicide bombings in the capital, Riyadh. That attack and a November assault on a housing compound that killed 17 people were blamed on the al-Qaida terror network.

Earlier this month, the United States ordered the departure of nonessential U.S. government employees and family members from Saudi Arabia and also urged private citizens to depart. The embassy had warned of ``credible indications of terrorist threats aimed at American and Western interests in Saudi Arabia.''

The U.S. Embassy official said the U.S. consulate in the Red Sea port city of Jiddah was following up the issue with Saudi authorities. Yanbu is about 220 miles northwest of Jiddah, also on the Red Sea.

``We are working with authorities to determine the facts,'' State Department spokeswoman Susan Pittman said from Washington.

A Yanbu resident said by telephone that police had set up checkpoints throughout the city, and that some of the Westerners involved in the oil industry in Yanbu were unable to reach their workplaces because of the heavy police presence.

The May 2003 housing compound attack was seen as a wake-up call to Saudis of the dangers of Islamic militants at home. Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden was born and raised in the kingdom, but expelled in 1994 for agitating against the monarchy.

Saudi security forces have been hunting Islamic militants, resulting in frequent deadly clashes in recent months.

An American was also killed in a May 1, 2003, shooting attack at the King Abdul Aziz Naval base in Jubail, about 250 miles northeast of Riyadh. Few details about that shooting were released. The attacker, who was dressed in a Saudi navy uniform, escaped.