Bombs' intent: to fray US-Saudi ties

The well-coordinated bomb attacks in Saudi Arabia Monday night - the worst against Americans since 9/11 - may represent an attempt by terrorists to exploit tensions between the United States and a key ally in the Middle East and to send a stark message to Washington: We're still here.

The series of truck-bomb explosions, in which dozens of people were killed, including seven Americans, is presumed to be the handiwork of Al Qaeda, which experts say underscores how potent the terrorist organization remains despite significant US strides in disrupting it.

At the least, they say it shows that the network still has the ability to carry off multiple strikes in one of the most secure countries in the world - and in one that is among the most closely associated with the US.

"Since Sept. 11, countries that had never cooperated with the US government have been providing intelligence support and law-enforcement support to our war on terror," says a US government official, who requested anonymity. But they were were still able to carry out "simultaneous explosions at three different locations in [Riyadh, Saudi Arabia], reminiscent of the 1998 bombings of the US Embassies in Africa and 9/11."

To be sure, the latest attack wasn't as sophisticated as that on 9/11. The terrorists in Saudi Arabia drove three trucks packed with explosives into gated compounds, which, experts say, is still much easier than hijacking aircraft and turning them into guided missiles. But the coordination involved in the latest strike is, nonetheless, significant.

"Various bits of legs and arms [of Al Qaeda] have been cut off," says Simon

Henderson, a veteran Saudi watcher in London. But "the rest of it is still there, which demands continuous vigilance and tough police action."

Moreover, it's noteworthy that the attacks were carried out in Saudi Arabia's capital only a little more than week after Saudi officials raided a safe house. In the gun battle that ensued, 19 suspected terrorists escaped. But the Saudis confiscated a large cache of explosives.

The strike comes, too, at the onset of a visit to the country by Secretary of State Colin Powell and follows a devastating suicide bombing at Mike's Place in Tel Aviv, Israel, in which five people were killed. Officials and experts say there is evidence that Al Qaeda may have funneled the two Muslim radicals from Britain into Israel to carry out that attack.

"These two incidents are bookends to the radicals' determination to interrupt US efforts to broker a Palestinian-Israeli peace deal," says Bruce Hoffman, an expert on terror at the RAND Corp. in Washington. "Even though the US has announced it will withdraw military forces from Saudi Arabia, they're saying it doesn't matter. The war is about American influence in the region, not just one country."

One reason for Mr. Powell's visit to Saudi Arabia is to ask Riyadh to try to limit charitable contributions to both Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad - two groups that have been instrumental in carrying out suicide bombing attacks against Israel.

But Saudi Arabia has long been the target of Mr. bin Laden and his loosely connected network. One of his original aims was to expel Americans from the country that houses Islam's most holy sites.

In fact, in November 1995, a car bomb exploded in Riyadh, killing five Americans. In June 1996, terrorists bombed the Khobar Towers, a complex near Dhahran that housed many US soldiers. Nineteen Americans were killed.

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