ABU DHABI — In an unprecedented attack, Al Qaida has targeted a
major
oil refinery in Saudi Arabia.
Al Qaida operatives attempted to blow up a refinery in Abqaiq in eastern
Saudi Arabia on Feb. 24. The operatives drove two cars filled with
explosives toward the refinery, but were stopped in a hail of fire by
security guards.
Officials said the cars did not penetrate the three fences that surround
the refinery, Middle East Newsline reported. At least two Al Qaida attackers were said to have been killed.
"Security forces and staff of [the state-owned] Saudi Aramco succeeded
in thwarting a terrorist attempt against the Abqaiq oil processing plants,"
Saudi Oil Minister Ali Al Nueimi said. "A small fire resulted from the
incident and was contained. This incident did not affect the levels of oil
and gas output in the kingdom."
Two Saudi guards were also killed in the 25-minute attack, the Saudi
Interior Ministry said on Saturday. Eight foreign workers from South Asia
were injured in the explosions at Abqaiq.
World oil prices increased by $2 in wake of the attack. The refinery,
located about 70 kilometers southwest of Dammam, has been termed the world's
most important oil facility. Thousands of Westerners, many of them British
and U.S. nationals, live within 10 kilometers of Abqaiq.
Saudi officials said Abqaiq processes seven million barrels of crude oil
per day. They said the kingdom plans to build additional refineries to fill
the growing demand in the West for refined oil.
So far, Al Qaida has limited its attacks to Western nationals who work
in the Saudi oil industry. In 2004, Osama Bin Laden called for attacks on
Saudi oil facilities. Later that year, six people were killed in an Al Qaida
assault on the petrochemical plant at Yanbu near Jedda.
On Saturday, Al Qaida said the Feb. 24 strike, termed "Operation Bin
Laden Conquest," marked the first of what the organization pledged would be
a series of attacks on the Saudi oil sector. The Saudi-owned Al Arabiya
satellite channel said Al Qaida employed vehicles that bore the logo of
Aramco.
"There are more like them who are racing toward martyrdom and eager to
fight the enemies of God, the Jews, the crusaders and their stooges, the
renegade rulers," Al Qaida said in a statement. "You will see things that
will make you happy."
Al Qaida said Saudi oil facilities symbolize the foreign plundering of
Muslim wealth. The statement said the attack was part of Al Qaida's campaign
to "expel the infidels from the Arab peninsula."
The Interior Ministry said it could not confirm Al Qaida's claim of
responsibility. Officials said the identification of the bodies of the
attackers would require several days.
"We have gathered evidence from the scene and it will be sent for
analysis," Interior Ministry spokesman Lt. Gen. Mansour Al Turki said.
"There are also security measures that need to take place in the
investigation. Only when the results come in can we determine who the
perpetrators were and identify them."
