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Al-Qaeda probably behind Saudi shooting spree: Australian FM
Sydney, May 02: The al-Qaeda terrorist network was most likely behind the gun attack in the Red Sea port of Yanbu which killed five western engineers including an Australian, Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer said today.
Sydney, May 02: The al-Qaeda terrorist network was most likely behind the gun attack in the Red Sea port of Yanbu which killed five western engineers including an Australian, Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer said today.
The men, including two Americans and two Britons, were attacked while working in an oil refinery run by US energy giant Exxon Mobil and the Saudi company SABIC.
A spokesman for Swiss-Swedish engineering and oil services giant ABB told media persons the men were employed by ABB subsidiary, ABB Lummus. The Australian was Anthony Richard Mason, 57, a construction director from western Australia. One Saudi security man was also killed in the bloody incident, which ended with the death of the assailants.
Downer said Canberra did not know who was responsible for the attack "but you could safely assume" al-Qaeda would be involved.
"Al-Qaeda people are very active in Saudi Arabia, where one of al-Qaeda's key objectives is the overthrow of the regime, and the establishment of a Taliban-style regime throughout Saudi Arabia," he told commercial television. The Foreign Affairs Department has advised Australians to defer all non-essential travel to Saudi Arabia. Downer said mason was the 101st Australian killed by terrorism since the September 11 attacks in 2001. Some 88 Australians were among the 202 who died in the bali car bombings almost two years ago.
Bureau Report
A spokesman for Swiss-Swedish engineering and oil services giant ABB told media persons the men were employed by ABB subsidiary, ABB Lummus. The Australian was Anthony Richard Mason, 57, a construction director from western Australia. One Saudi security man was also killed in the bloody incident, which ended with the death of the assailants.
Downer said Canberra did not know who was responsible for the attack "but you could safely assume" al-Qaeda would be involved.
"Al-Qaeda people are very active in Saudi Arabia, where one of al-Qaeda's key objectives is the overthrow of the regime, and the establishment of a Taliban-style regime throughout Saudi Arabia," he told commercial television. The Foreign Affairs Department has advised Australians to defer all non-essential travel to Saudi Arabia. Downer said mason was the 101st Australian killed by terrorism since the September 11 attacks in 2001. Some 88 Australians were among the 202 who died in the bali car bombings almost two years ago.
Bureau Report