Saudi attacks shake expat workers

Larry Thaxter returned to Saudi Arabia in August after being evacuated with the other Western staff of the Saudi Arabian International School last spring. He believed last year's car-bomb attack on Western compounds in the capital Riyadh, which killed 35 people, was an isolated incident. But despite a massive security crackdown since then, Westerners continue to be targeted by suspected Al Qaeda militants, most recently at a grisly shootout in the industrial city of Yanbu on the Red Sea over the weekend.

The attacks are intended to sow fear, and are causing many Western workers to consider whether the higher pay and perks of living here are worth it. If an abrupt exodus of foreigners occurred, the Saudi economy would suffer, say economists.

"We thought the Saudis had things under control. But it seems the situation is bigger than they thought it was," says Mr. Thaxter, the school's principal, who comes from Alberta, Canada.

Since last May there have been two major attacks, on a housing compound and on the police headquarters in Riyadh last month, followed by a two-day shootout in Jeddah. But the most disturbing of the incidents was Saturday morning's attack in Yanbu at a refinery project owned by Exxon-Mobil and Saudi petrochemical firm Sabic. Gunmen entered the offices of ABB-Lummus, a subsidiary of a Swiss engineering company, and started firing.

Two Americans, two Britons, an Australian, and a Saudi were killed. Four of the attackers were later killed in a shootout with police after a car chase across Yanbu in which they also shot at a McDonald's. According to the local press, one of the dead Westerners was tied to a car and dragged for more a mile through the streets of Yanbu.

The incident, widely reported, has had an impact. All 90 employees of ABB-Lummus have decided they want to go home.

"We offered them heightened security, we offered to take over security ourselves, but every single one preferred to leave," says Bjorn Edlund, spokesman for ABB, speaking from Zurich.

The group, mostly Americans, with some Australians, Europeans, Indians, and Filipinos, will depart with their families over the next couple of days.

Monday in Yanbu, the US ambassador told a group of Americans to leave Saudi Arabia because their safety could not be guaranteed. The Associated Press reports that Ambassador James Oberwetter left without speaking to reporters after the hour-long meeting with about 100 members of the local American community and a few other Westerners trying to decide whether to stay.

Most expats who work for multinational firms in Saudi Arabia earn tax-free salaries and get overseas premiums. Their children attend private schools at company cost, and employees here get other generous benefits not found at home. But that may no longer be enough to keep some Americans here.

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