Washington, Nov 15: The Saudi Arabian government is concerned about the possibility of weapons being smuggled from Iraq into the Kingdom but there are no indications so far that weapons have flowed across the border, a top Saudi official has said. Adel al-Jubeir, the foreign policy adviser to Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah, said yesterday in Washington that the government was worried about weapons and munitions coming into the country that has been hit by two terrorist attacks this year.
''Fortunately, we haven't seen much (smuggling) yet,'' he told reporters at the Saudi Embassy. ''We continue to work with the US government on this area, and hopefully, we can ensure that we have no problems from the border with Iraq.''
Terrorists attacked a compound Sunday in Riyadh, killing 17 people and wounding more than 122. The compound housed mostly Arab families.
The capital was the scene of another deadly attack in may on another compound housing foreign business personnel. The al-Qaeda terrorist network was suspected of carrying out both attacks, and the Saudi government said it believes they were designed to destabilize the royal family.
Al-Jubeir said ''it may very well be the case'' that the terrorist believed the compound in Sunday's bombing also housed foreigners.
He said terrorists will not succeed in destabilizing the Saudi government, which is disliked by al-Qaeda because of its close relationship with Washington.
Meanwhile, the US Embassy in Riyadh, closed since Sunday as a security precaution, was due to reopen today.
''We believe that given what information we have and given the security measures that we've taken, it is safe to open the embassies to the public,'' US State Department Spokesman Adam Ereli told reporters.
Bureau Report