U.S. workers in Saudi Arabia advised to leave

[floda]

U.S. workers in Saudi Arabia advised to leave


YANBU, Saudi Arabia — The U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia traveled to this oil-industry city Monday with a message for Americans in the kingdom: Go home. We cannot protect you.
Gathered in a meeting room in a Holiday Inn still pocked with bullet holes after the latest attack on Westerners killed six people, including two Americans, many said they would follow his advice.

The first to go were some of the 90 foreign employees of ABB Lummus Global Inc. The offices of the Houston-based oil contractor were attacked Saturday by four gunmen apparently trying to encourage Saudis to join the resistance against the U.S. occupation of Iraq.

Some European ABB employees boarded a van for the Yanbu airport Monday night. "Money is money, but it's not worth your life," said Armando Rosiglioni, 63, of Venice, Italy. Rosiglioni arrived in the Red Sea city 10 days ago on a three-month contract. "I don't want to take a stupid risk."

more...

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2004-05-03-saudi_x.htm

[FreakinDJ]

1. Does this mean "Yanke Go Home"

[maxsolomon]

2. we will drag you into jihad by your beard

i read this somewhere last week.

if all the troops are gone from SA, and all the foreign workers pull out, leaving the holy free of infidels, how exactly are we defeating al queda?

bush is losing the war on terror.

[geek tragedy]

4. What's the alternative?

The Saudi entity is going to fall. The only questions are who is going to take over and what is going to be done about the oil fields.

[Doctor Smith]

3. Saudi is a tinderbox.

The unemployment rate is 30-35% and rising, yet there are 5-7 million foreign workers in a country with a population of only 24 million.
Half of the population is younger than age 20.

[Tight_rope]

5. "I don't want to take a stupid risk."

You'll never hear the chimp say something this simple and intelligent.
But you might hear Dubya say, "Money is money, and it's worth your life,":argh:

[denverbill]

6. ABB. Rummy used to sit on their board til he became Sec of Def.

I didn't know they did oil work. All I knew was that they were building a nuclear reactor for North Korea.

[struggle4progress]

7. kick

:kick:

[UpInArms]

8. related article: Exodus of Westerners threatens Riyadh's economy

http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/world/story/0,4386,256296,00.html

IF THE tens of thousands of Western expatriates who find themselves directly in Al-Qaeda's sights decided to leave Saudi Arabia en masse in light of an upsurge in terror attacks against them, their departure would have a devastating impact on the Islamic kingdom's key economic sectors.

Saudi police guarding the Oasis residential compound in Khobar. Westerners have criticised the security provided as inadequate and want the authorities to do more. -- AP
That is what the militants hope to achieve as they notch up a gear in their campaign to overthrow the Al-Saud ruling family, and there are early signs that they may be on their way to achieving their goal.

Travel agencies in the Eastern Province, scene of the hostage drama in Khobar on May 29, in which 22 people were killed, say big joint ventures and multinational groups have made recent mass bookings for their American and European executives.

There are even unconfirmed reports in the government-guided Saudi media of mass resignations from the state-owned energy giant Saudi Aramco, where Americans make up the bulk of the more than 10,000 Westerners whose expertise the kingdom still largely relies on to run its most vital economic sector.

...more...

[UpInArms]

9. here's how SA is "working" on their problem

Attacking west a sin, say Saudi clerics

http://www.guardian.co.uk/saudi/story/0,11599,1239062,00.html

Six Saudi preachers seen as influential with Islamist extremists yesterday denounced attacks on westerners as a "grave sin" under Islam.

"The bombings and killings have revolted people and hurt individuals and their property, and no one with the slightest knowledge of Islam can doubt that this is an atrocious crime and grave sin," they said in a statement carried by Saudi media.

The statement came amid an escalation by militants loyal to the Saudi-born Osama bin Laden of their campaign to oust the kingdom's pro-US monarchy and drive out westerners.

Militants shot dead a US military contractor outside his home in Riyadh on Saturday. Al-Qaida, which claimed responsibility for the attack, said it had also kidnapped an American. It was the sixth assault on westerners in six weeks.

The statement said those who killed non-Muslims resident among Muslims would not go to heaven.

...more...