American Shot Dead in Saudi Arabia

12/06/2004| IslamWeb

An American has been killed in the Saudi capital Riyadh, a police official has said. "An American resident was shot dead in al-Malaz district at 4:00 pm (13:00 GMT) on Saturday," he said, quoted by the official SPA news agency. "We believe he is an American and we're trying to confirm this," a US embassy spokesman told reporters. Security men at the scene, who identified the victim as American, said he was believed to have worked for an electronics company involved in a strategic oil reserve project. Witnesses said the man was shot inside his car as he parked in front of his house. "There were bullet holes in the rear window of the car and the driver's window was also shattered," one witness said. On Tuesday, a US military contractor was gunned down in daylight at his house in the capital Riyadh in the fifth assault on Westerners in the world's largest oil exporter in five weeks. **Heightened fears*** The attacks heightened fears among tens of thousands of expatriates and raised doubts over the grip of security forces. Saudi Arabia has been fighting armed supporters of Saudi-born Usama bin Ladin's al-Qaida network for a year, arresting and killing many including eight on a wanted list of 26 dissidents. Riyadh says the armed men are going for soft targets after the clampdown. Saudi officials have so far remained silent on what measures they would take to safeguard foreigners from future attacks by al-Qaida, which has vowed that 2004 would be "bloody and miserable" for the kingdom, a key US ally. **PHOTO CAPTION*** Saudi policemen and U.S. embassy officials in Riyadh gather in the Khaleej neighborhood of eastern Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, (AP Photo)