Al-Qaeda threatens more strikes on Saudi oil facilities

Riyadh (AFP)--26Feb2006

The Al-Qaeda network vowed to assault more Saudi oil facilities,
according to an Internet statement posted Saturday after a
thwarted attack on the desert kingdom's largest oil installation.
     "We reaffirm our determination to defeat the crusader and tyrannic
forces, stop the plunder of the Muslims' riches, free Muslim land and cleanse
the Arabian Peninsula of infidels," said the statement by al-Qaeda in the
Arabian Peninsula, as the network's local branch is known.
     "We will not stop attacks until (the presence of infidels) has been
eliminated," the statement said. Its authenticity could not be confirmed.
     The chilling message cast a pall on Riyadh's efforts to reassure markets
made jittery by the failed double suicide bomb attack Friday on the world's
largest oil-producing center that left two security guards and the two bombers
dead.
     The al-Qaeda statement also identified the two "martyrdom-seekers" who
died in what the group claimed was a successful attack on the Abqaiq facility
in the oil-rich Eastern Province.
     The Internet posting named the pair as Abdullah Abdul Aziz Ibrahim
al-Tuwaijri and Mohammed Saleh Mohammed al-Ghaith, both of whom figured on a
36-strong list of wanted militants issued by Saudi authorities last June.
    "We warn against the spurious allegations of Saudi media that the
operation was thwarted and the two cars exploded at the entrance (of the
complex)," the statement said, deriding Riyadh's efforts to portray the
botched attack as a tribute to the OPEC kingpin's security forces.
     Saudi Arabia announced on Friday it had foiled an attack against its
major oil processing plant, the first known attempt against such an
installation in the world's top oil producer since a wave of al-Qaeda terror
broke out in May 2003.
     "Security (forces) and staff of Saudi Aramco (the state oil conglomerate)
succeeded in thwarting a terrorist attempt against the Abqaiq oil processing
plants," oil minister Ali Naimi said immediately after the attempted
attack.
     Al-Qaeda's local branch had issued another statement overnight claiming
responsibility for the attempted assault in the kingdom, which sits on a
quarter of the world's proven crude reserves. 
     A security official told AFP that two security men and at least two
assailants were killed in the attempted suicide car bomb attack at the gates
of the Abqaiq complex.
     The death of the two security men was confirmed in a statement by the
interior ministry Saturday.
     The closest al-Qaeda's militants had previously got to Saudi oil
installations was in May 2004, when a shooting rampage in a petrochemical
complex in the Red Sea industrial port of Yanbu left six Westerners dead.
     At least 90 civilians, 54 security personnel and 125 militants have now
died since al-Qaeda's wave of terror began in the kingdom, triggering a
relentless crackdown by security forces on suspected extremists. Hundreds more
have been wounded.
     In December 2004, al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden called on his followers
to target oil installations in both the Gulf and Iraq.
     Saudi Arabia currently pumps around 9.5-mil b/d and has an output
capacity of 11-mil b/d.
     The Eastern Province was the scene of a major attack at the height of the
unrest in May 2004, when a shooting and hostage-taking rampage in the city of
Al-Khobar left 22 people dead, including four Westerners.
      A top oil and security adviser told AFP that terror attacks on Saudi oil
facilities, like the one attempted Friday, are doomed to fail given security
measures in the kingdom.
     "Unless you have a specialized force of a foreign army, such attacks are
impossible to succeed," said Nawaf Obaid, managing director of Saudi National
Security Assessment Project, a government consultancy.
      At any given time, there are 30,000 troops on average guarding the
massive oil and gas network in the vast kingdom, he said.

Please visit: www.platts.com

Their coverage of energy matters is extensive!!.