U.S. declares alert for citizens in Saudi Arabia

ABU DHABI — The U.S. Embassy has declared an alert for U.S. nationals living in Saudi Arabia.

The embassy called on the tens of thousands of Americans living in the kingdom to be on alert in wake of a bombing that injured a U.S. citizen. A U.S. physician in Khobar, identified as Gary Hatch, was injured by a parcel bomb mailed to him.

The embassy issued instructions that called on Americans to change their travel plans and be careful about opening mail from those they don't know.

Saudi authorities said the doctor was hospitalized after the blast. It was the sixth such attack on Westerners over the past seven months.

The London-based Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia said the attack was carried out by Islamic fundamentalists opposed to the Western presence in the Middle East. The group said fundamentalists were involved in previous attacks on Westerners, an assertion denied by Saudi authorities.

Diplomatic sources in the Gulf have raised the prospect that Iraq is behind the attacks. Iraq has warned its Arab neighbors that Baghdad might retaliate for their cooperation with Washington on the issue of "smart sanctions" against the regime of President Saddam Hussein.

"I don't think neighboring countries will cooperate," Iraqi Foreign Minister Tareq Aziz said. "The U.S. proposals will cause enormous losses for countries dealing with Iraq."