"The terror suspect, who worked as an engineer in the petroleum sector,
told me that the aim of the planned Shanghai attack was to lure Americans
into Saudi Arabia in order to kill them," Abdul Lathief Al Gamdi, a Saudi
official who works with Al Qaida detainees, said.
Al Gamdi has been a member of an official committee that counsels Al
Qaida detainees. He said Al Qaida's aim has been to drive Americans out of
the Saudi kingdom.
"They [Al Qaida] learned no lesson from the bitter experiences in Iraq
and
Afghanistan," Al Gamdi said.
Over the last two years, Saudi Arabia has foiled most Al Qaida attacks
against Westerners. At the same time, the Western presence in the kingdom
has been
costly to private contractors.
Officials said residential compounds in Jedda have sought to evict
Western nationals in an effort to reduce security costs. In some cases, they
said, compound operators fabricated orders from the Interior Ministry, which
already requires the residences to contain blast walls, barbed wire, armed
guards and cameras.
"Residential compounds for foreigners, similar to any terrorist targeted
areas, are subject to precautionary security measures to protect their
residents," Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mansour Al Turki said.
"The Interior Ministry has insisted that it will evaluate and develop its
security procedures to combat terrorism and crime. Therefore, it reconfirmed
the importance of implementing precautionary security measures and
procedures without exceptions."
But compound owners said the ministry has ordered that residences with
fewer than 10 Westerners could forego special security. They said they were
advised to transfer the Westerners to compounds with a larger foreign
presence.
"We were informed by the ministry that it is withdrawing military
security from those compounds with 10 or fewer Western residents, and that
those residents were to leave the compound for a government-guarded
compound," Faisal Al Qahtani, a manager of a major Jedda residential
compound, said.