April 21, 2004 - Terrorists launched a suicide car bomb attack against Saudi Arabian government buildings in Riyadh.   [more]

April 19, 2004 - Saudi security forces seized two vehicles loaded with explosives north of Riyadh.  Three other explosive laden vehicles were seized in the last two days, one of which has been sought since February.  [more]

April 15, 2004 - Evacuation is ordered for most U.S. diplomats in Saudi Arabia - "The United States [Apr. 15] ordered the evacuation of most U.S. diplomats and all U.S. family dependents from Saudi Arabia, and "strongly urged" all American citizens to leave because of "credible and specific" intelligence about terrorist attacks planned against U.S. and other Western targets, the State Department announced.. [more]

April 13, 2004 - Suspected Muslim militants have killed four Saudi policemen in separate incidents north of the capital Riyadh.. [more]

April 8, 2004 - Al-Qaeda chief in Saudi Arabia vows to eject U.S. from Arabian Peninsula.. [more]

April 5, 2004 - Saudi security forces shot dead a suspected militant and wounded another during a car chase in eastern Riyadh neighborhood.. [more]

March 19, 2004 - U.S. Secretary of State Powell meets Saudi officials in Riyadh, tells press US and Saudi Arabia are united in war on terror.. [more]

March 15, 2004 - Two of Saudi Arabia's most wanted terror suspects were shot dead in a shootout with police forces.. [more]

February 28, 2004 - Royal decree to establish the Saudi National Commission for Relief and Charity Work abroad to ensure that terrorist organizations do not misuse Saudi donations for humanitarian projects worldwide.. [more]

February 16, 2004 - British Airways has canceled [Feb 16] flight from London to Riyadh, for 'security reasons.' [more]

February 14, 2004 - Saudi Arabia's Interior Ministry offers SR7 million reward for information leading to the recovery of a GMC Suburban loaded with explosives. [more]

January 3, 2004 - Brig. Gen. Hadi Mabjer Al-Sahli, chairman of the military council at the border guards command in the Jizan region was found shot dead in front of his house.  [more]

December 30, 2003 - One of the Kingdom's most wanted terror suspects surrendered to security authorities.  [more]  A western diplomat said terrorists are targeting Saudi Arabian security organs after an attempt to kill a senior security official in Riyadh. [more] 

December 17, 2003 - The United States has said it will allow its non-essential diplomats to leave Saudi Arabia due to increased security concerns. [more]

December 8, 2003 - One of the Kingdom's most wanted terrorists was killed and another arrested following a shootout with security forces in Al-Suwaidy in south Riyadh. [more]

December 6, 2003 - Saudi officials release a list of 26 wanted terrorist suspects. [more]

December 4, 2003 - Brigadier General Abdulaziz al-Huwairini escaped an assassination attempt in Riyadh.  Attack later claimed as the work of the "Two Holy Mosques Brigade." The group declared in a statement that 'since our brothers in al-Qaeda are busy fighting the crusaders, we took it upon ourselves to cleanse the land of the two holy mosques of the crusaders' agents' - a reference to the Saudi government. [more]

December 2, 2003 - A U.S. Embassy warning was issued to the 37,000 U.S. citizens living in Saudi Arabia, saying that compounds housing Westerners had come under surveillance by terrorists, indicating the possibility of another attack. [more]

December 1, 2003 - The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office has advised British nationals against all but essential travel to Saudi Arabia. [more]

November 10, 2003 - Saudi Arabia's Progress in the War on Terrorism - Saudi Embassy releases detailed report on actions to combat terrorists. [more] including: Actions to Counter Terrorism [more];  Specific Cases [more]; International Cooperation [more]; Actions Taken in the Financial Area [more]

November 8, 2003 -- Riyadh -- Suicide bomb attack against residential compound believed to be by Al Qaeda members.  Preliminary casualty figures: 11 dead, 122 injured. [more]

November 7, 2003 -- Saudi security forces encircled two terrorists in Riyadh. The terrorists shot at the security forces and committed suicide by blowing themselves up.

November 3, 2003 -- Saudi police arrested six suspected Al-Qaeda militants after a shootout in the holy city of Makkah in Saudi Arabia. The raid on an apartment triggered a shootout that left two suspected terrorists dead, and one security officer wounded. Officers also seized a large cache of weapons they believe were stockpiled for attacks during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The militants had rented the apartment for just the month of Ramadan.

November 2, 2003 -- US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, "The Saudi government, particularly since they were attacked some weeks and months ago, has been very aggressive, more aggressive than ever in the past."

October 20, 2003 -- Saudi security forces raided several terrorist cells in various parts of the country, including the city of Riyadh, the Al-Majma'a District in Riyadh Province, Makkah Province, the Jeddah District of Makkah Province, and Qasim Province. Security forces confiscated items including C4 plastic explosives, home-made bombs, gas masks, and large quantities of assault rifles and ammunition.

October 5, 2003 -- Security forces arrested three suspects during a raid in the desert to the east of Riyadh. On October 8, 2003 security forces raided a farm in the northern Muleda area of Qasim Province and were able to arrest a suspect. Three other suspects fled the scene. Two security officers suffered injuries. Security forces found large amounts of material to make explosives and light weaponry in the farm where the suspects had been hiding.

September 23, 2003 -- Security forces surrounded a group of suspected terrorists in an apartment in the city of Jizan on September 23, 2003. During a gun battle, one security officer was killed and four officers injured. Two suspects were arrested and one suspect was killed. The suspects were armed with machine guns and pistols and a large quantity of ammunition.

August 29, 2003 -- US Attorney General John Ashcroft commended Saudi Arabia's efforts in the war on terrorism and stated: "I believe that progress is being made and I think not only that it (cooperation) is good but it continues to improve."

August 26, 2003 - Saudi Arabia and the United States are to create a joint task force aimed at combating the funding of extremist groups in the country.

August 2003 -- The Council of Ministers approved new money-laundering and terror financing laws that include harsh penalties for the crime of money laundering and terror financing.

August 2003 -- Saudi Arabia and the United States established a second joint task force in August 2003, this one aimed at combating the financing of terror. The task force was initiated by Crown Prince Abdullah. 

July 28, 2003 -- Saudi security forces killed on July 28 six terrorist suspects and injured one in a gunfight at a farm in Qasim Province, 220 miles north of the capital, Riyadh.

July 25, 2003 -- Three men were arrested on July 25 at a checkpoint in Makkah for possessing printed material that included a "religious edict" in support of terrorist acts against Western targets.

July 21, 2003 -- Saudi authorities defused terrorist operations which were about to be carried out against vital installations and arrested 16 members of a number of terrorist cells after searching their hideouts in farms and houses in Riyadh Province, Qasim Province and the Eastern Province.

July 3, 2003 -- Turki Nasser Mishaal Aldandany, a top Al-Qaeda operative and mastermind of the May 12 bombings, was killed on July 3 along with three other suspects in a gun battle with security forces that had them surrounded.

June 14, 2003 -- Saudi security raided a terrorist cell on June 14 in the Alattas building in the Khalidiya neighborhood of Makkah. Two Saudi police officers and five suspects were killed in a shootout. Twelve suspects were arrested, and a number of booby-trapped Qur'ans and 72 home-made bombs, in addition to weapons, ammunition, and masks were confiscated.

May 31, 2003 -- Yousif Salih Fahad Al-Ayeeri, a.k.a. Swift Sword, a major Al-Qaeda operational planner and fundraiser, was killed on May 31 while fleeing from a security patrol.

May 28, 2003 -- Eleven suspects were taken into custody on May 27 and May 28 in the city of Madinah. Weapons, false identity cards and bomb-making materials were confiscated.  In addition, Saudi national Abdulmonim Ali Mahfouz Al-Ghamdi was arrested, following a car chase. Three non-Saudi women without identity cards, who were in the car he was driving, were detained.

May 12, 2003 -- Riyadh -- Bombers attack compound housing mostly Western residents resulting in 35 dead, including 10 Americans and 7 Saudis,  200 wounded.  Nine attackers among the dead, six believed to be captured. [more]

May 2003 -- Saudi Arabia asked the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation and all Saudi charities to suspend activities outside Saudi Arabia until mechanisms are in place to adequately monitor and control funds so they cannot be misdirected for illegal purposes.

May 2003 -- SAMA instructed all banks and financial institutions in the Kingdom to stop all financial transfers by Saudi charities to any accounts outside the Kingdom.

February 2003 -- The Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) began to implement a major technical program to train judges and investigators on legal matters involving terrorism financing and money-laundering methods, international requirements for financial secrecy, and methods followed by criminals to exchange information.

March 2002 -- The U.S. Treasury Department and Saudi Arabia blocked the accounts of the Somalia and Bosnia branches of the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation.

May 2, 2001 -- Khobar -- Letter bomb injures American doctor.  [more]

December 15, 2000 -- Khobar -- Bomb left on car windshield severely injures British citizen. [more]

November 22, 2000 -- Riyadh -- A bomb explodes in a car wounding two men and a woman.  [more]

November 17, 2000 -- Riyadh -- A car bomb killed Christopher Rodway and wounded his wife. [more]

June 25, 1996 -- Khobar -- Truck containing about 5000 pounds of explosives targeted against US military dormitory results in 19 dead and about 500 wounded.  Perpetrators escaped, later indicted by U.S. [more about Khobar Tower] [more about the indictment]

November 13, 1995 -- Riyadh -- The U.S. Office of the Personnel Manager, Saudi Arabian National Guard (OPM/SANG) -- American training mission -- was attacked by a car bomb in a parking lot.  Six killed, including five Americans, and 60 injured.  The "Tigers of the Gulf," "Islamist Movement for Change," and "Fighting Advocates of God" claim responsibility.  Saudi authorities arrested and executed perpetrators. [more on bombing] [more on OPM/SANG]

1994 -- Osama bin Laden stripped of Saudi citizenship.

July 1989, two bombs exploded in the vicinity of Mecca's Grand Mosque. The following September, the Saudis executed 16 Kuwaiti Shi`is for their part in the explosions. [more]

1988 and 1989, a previously unknown group called Saudi Hezbollah claimed credit for a series of terrorist attacks on petrochemical installations and the assassination of Saudi diplomats abroad (in Ankara, Bangkok, and Karachi).  [more]

November 20, 1979 Grand Mosque Seizure: Surprising many who believed fundamentalism was not a strong force in Saudi Arabia, Sunni Islamic dissidents seized control of the Grand Mosque at Mecca, one of the holiest sites in Islam. The (200) armed dissidents charged that the Al Saud regime had lost its legitimacy due to corruption and its closer ties to Western nations. The standoff lasted for several weeks before the Saudi military succeeded in removing the dissidents. More than 200 troops and dissidents were killed at the mosque, and subsequently over 60 dissidents were publicly beheaded. [more about the attack] [more about the Grand Mosque]