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Al-Qaeda Claims Responsibility for Saudi Attack 'Pakistan Times' | February 25 2006 Comment: No details, just someone posting another Al Qaeda claim on an Islamist website DUBAI (United Arab Emirates): Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda group claimed responsibility for Friday's attack on a major Saudi oil facility at Abqaiq, the group said in an Internet statement. The statement, posted by the al-Qaeda group in the Peninsula on a Web site often used by militant groups, said two of its members carried out the suicide operation, but gave no details. "With grace from God alone, hero mujahideen from the squadron of Sheikh Osama bin Laden succeeded today (Friday)...in penetrating a plant for refining oil and gas in the town of Abqaiq in the eastern part of the peninsula, and then allowed two car bombs in driven by two martyrdom seekers," it said. Wealth of Oil The statement added: "These plants help in stealing the Muslims' wealth of oil." The group said it would give further details of the operation and those who carried it out at a later stage. It said the operation was within the framework of efforts by al-Qaeda to prevent the theft of Muslims' wealth by "crusaders and Jews" and to force "infidels" out of the peninsula. Al-Qaeda has called on militants to wage attacks on oil targets in the Gulf region. The authenticity of the statement could not be verified, as yet. Guards Thwart Attack Suicide bombers in explosives-packed cars attacked the world's largest oil processing facility Friday but were stopped outside the gates when guards opened fire, detonating their vehicles, officials said. Guards began shooting when two cars tried to drive into the heavily protected facility in eastern Saudi Arabia, Interior Ministry spokesman Lt. Gen. Mansour al-Turki said. Both vehicles exploded outside the first of three fences around the sprawling complex. The attackers were killed and two guards were critically wounded, al-Turki said. Saudi Arabia's oil minister said the blast "did not affect operations" at the Abqaiq facility, but oil prices spiked on world markets already jittery about supply disruptions in Nigeria and a diplomatic standoff over Iran's nuclear ambitions. Light sweet crude for April delivery soared to $62.83 a barrel, then eased back to $62.50, an increase of $1.96 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude futures for April jumped $1.81 to $62.35 on London's ICE Futures exchange. The attack was the first on an oil facility in Saudi Arabia and it targeted one of the most important. The huge processing facility near the Persian Gulf coast handles around two-thirds of the country's oil output, according to the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration. The facility "continued to operate normally. Export operations continued in full," oil minister Ali Naimi said in a statement. Initial reports had said the attack briefly halted the flow of oil. The attack took place in a region where Shiites are centered, amid an uproar over the bombing of a major shrine in Iraq this week. But suspicions quickly fell on al-Qaida-linked militants, raising fears of a new tactic emulating Iraqi insurgents, who have hobbled their country's oil industry with sabotage and attacks. "In Iraq they zeroed in on oil and this appears to be a creeping process, since it is happening in Saudi Arabia," said Youssef Ibrahim, a Dubai-based political risk analyst with the Strategic Energy Investment Group. Crackdown Saudi Arabia has been waging a fierce three-year crackdown on al-Qaida militants, who launched a campaign in 2003 aimed at a string of attacks mostly targeting foreigners. Al-Naimi, the oil minister, said "security forces and Aramco security officials managed to thwart a terrorist attack." He said the attack caused "a small fire" that was brought under control. The attack occurred around 3 p.m. local time, several hours after weekly prayers on a day off for Saudis. The facility operates around the clock, seven days a week. A Saudi journalist who arrived at the scene soon after an explosion said guards exchanged fire for two hours with two militants outside the facility. He saw workers repairing a pipeline. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation. With over 260 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, a quarter of the world's total, Saudi Arabia is OPEC's largest producer and the top foreign supplier to the United States. The Kingdom maintains crude oil production capacity of up to about 11 million barrels a day. The Abqaiq facility processes up to about 7 million barrels a day, 93 percent of which is loaded onto tankers for export. Militants have attacked oil offices but Friday's assault marked the first time a processing facility or refinery has come under fire. Perspective On May 1, 2004, attackers stormed the offices of a Houston-based oil company in the western Saudi oil hub of Yanbu, killing six Westerners and a Saudi before security forces killed the attackers. Several weeks later, al-Qaida-linked gunmen stormed oil company compounds in Khobar, on the eastern coast, and took hostages. Twenty-two people, 19 of them foreigners, were killed before the siege ended. In December 2004, al-Qaida stalwart Osama bin Laden for the first time called on militants to attack oil targets in the Gulf to stop the flow of oil to the West. No such attacks followed. Some experts have said that al-Qaida would do nothing to seriously jeopardize the oil industry on which the Kingdom's wealth is based, because the group's long-term goal is to run Saudi Arabia. • ---------------------------------------------------
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