| Summary
Nine terror
suspects and a bystander died after militants
launched coordinated car bombings and battled
security forces in the Saudi capital.
 Militants
launched coordinated car bombings and battled
security forces in the Saudi capital last night
(Dec. 29) in attacks that killed 10 people, caused
oil prices to jump and signaled that Islamic
extremists are keeping up their fight despite the
kingdom's crackdown on al-Qaida. A car bomb
detonated near the Interior Ministry in central
Riyadh -- killing a bystander, according to Saudi
TV -- was followed soon after by an explosion when
suicide attackers tried to bomb a troop
recruitment center. (London Free Press/AP)
Details
 Attacks
began at about 8:35 p.m. in central Riyadh
near the Interior Ministry, which is in charge
of Saudi security forces. (AP)
- Two
militants detonated a car bomb by remote
control in a traffic tunnel near the ministry.
Al Riyadh, a state-controlled newspaper, said
the attack was a suicide bombing, quoting a
spokesman for the Interior Ministry, Brig.
Gen. Mansour al-Turki. A limousine driver was
killed. (AP)
- A half
hour after the first blast and five miles
away, a second explosion went off at a center
for recruiting security troops. Police said
two suicide bombers tried to storm the center
but blew up their car prematurely after police
fired on them. The Interior Ministry said 12
security officers and an unspecified number of
bystanders were slightly injured. (AP)
 Three
attackers were killed at the sites of the
blasts, according to media reports, and seven
others were killed after a chase to the north
of the capital. (AP)
- More
than 90 people were injured in the attacks,
mostly security forces and bystanders. (AP)
- Prince
Ahmed bin Abdel Aziz, the deputy interior
minister, told Saudi TV, "This is a
heinous and disturbing crime." He said
the attackers were all Saudis and described
them as "terrorists (who) took a great
risk because they know that their end is
imminent." (AP)
- Saudi
police hunted for suspects Thursday (Dec. 30)
after insurgents bombed two security
headquarters in Riyadh, setting off violence
that left 10 attackers and one bystander dead
in what appeared to be the latest blow by
al-Qaida-linked militants against the Saudi
royal family. (AP)
 Despite
the relative puniness of the attacks, oil
markets quickly reacted to the violence with a
jittery bump up in prices, with key prices in
the United States rising $1.87 a barrel, to
$43.64. (NYT)
- The
effect of the attacks was more psychological
than physical.. ..They showed that the
militants are still capable of striking in the
very heart of the capital despite an 19-month,
nationwide police crackdown that, the police
say, has killed or captured three-quarters of
the most wanted terrorists inspired by Al
Qaeda and dismantled much of their network.
Hundreds of suspected sympathizers have been
detained. (NYT)
- Early
Wednesday, a man was killed in Riyadh after
tossing a bomb and shooting at security
agents, a security official said. On Tuesday,
another suspect and a bystander were killed in
a shootout in the same Riyadh neighborhood, an
Interior Ministry official said. (Washington
Post)
 The
attacks came two weeks after al Qaeda leader
Osama bin Laden called on his followers to
focus attacks on his homeland. While damage to
the Interior Ministry was minor, it was a bold
assault on the government body at the center
of Saudi Arabia's fight against Islamic
extremists. (AP)
Source: Guardian/Washington
Post/AP/NY
Times
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