ABU DHABI Ñ Saudi Arabia has declared an alert and bolstered security around Western
installations after a gunman set fire to a U.S.-owned McDonald's restaurant near Riyadh that stayed open during the daytime Ramadan fasting period.
Saudi officials said an unidentified gunman torched the McDonald's
restaurant in Al Kharj 80 kilometers south of Riyadh. They said the gunman
fled and nobody was injured.
The United States maintains a military presence in several parts of the
kingdom, including Al Kharj. About 3,000 U.S. soldiers and thousands of
other of civilian employees are based in Saudi Arabia.
[On Thursday, two U.S. soldiers were seriously injured in a shooting
attack in Kuwait. The soldiers were shot as they drove along a highway.]
Wednesday's attack followed a series of bombings of American
fast-food restaurants in Lebanon, attacks attributed to Palestinian
insurgents, Middle East Newsline reported.
Saudi officials and Western diplomatic sources have reported an
increased alert over the prospect of an attack on U.S. interests in the
kingdom during Ramdan, which is expected to end around Dec. 6.
Over the weekend, Saudi special forces arrested an Al Qaida operative in
Riyadh. The operative, identified as Mohammed Al Sahim, was sought by the
kingdom for months in connection with insurgency attacks.
Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef Bin Abdul Aziz said authorities
have questioned about 700 nationals who have returned from Afghanistan.
Nayef said more than 100 are being held on suspicion of being linked to Al
Qaida.
"Security authorities have already questioned nearly 700 Saudis who came
back from Afghanistan," the interior minister said. "Those who are still
being held for interrogation number more than 100," he added.
The McDonald's incident was the first reported attack on a U.S.-related facility in the
kingdom during the current fast month of Ramadan. The McDonald's had been open
during the daytime when Muslims fast but the restaurant was said to be
empty.
"The gunman then lit a fire which caused some material damage and fled,"
an official was quoted by the official Saudi Press Agency as saying.
[In Washington, Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Arlen Specter called
on the United States to press Riyadh for greater cooperation on regional
security issues. He said the Saudis have rejected U.S. requests to cooperate
against Al Qaida as well as Iraq. "I believe we have to press the Saudis
much harder," he said. "We are not getting it."]
