Three Explosions Strike Saudi Arabia

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 5:11 p.m. ET

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) -- Three explosions rocked western Riyadh
near the diplomatic quarter around midnight Saturday, and smoke could
be seen rising from the area of the blast, diplomats said.

The diplomats reported one big explosion at about midnight, followed
by two smaller ones 15 seconds apart in the western part of the city.
The streets were crowded with late night crowds because of Ramadan,
the holy month when Muslims fast during the day.

Police cars and ambulances raced toward the direction of the blasts,
sirens wailing. Traffic was tied up across the city.

The al-Jazeera satellite TV station reported a shootout occurred in
the compound where the explosion occurred. An al-Jazeera
correspondent, reporting from the scene of the explosion, said there
was a large fire in the compound, where he heard three blasts.

The al-Jazeera correspondent said the compound houses foreigners from
various countries, and said security forces have blocked off the area
surrounding the compound, preventing people from entering.

``We heard very strong explosion and we saw the fire,'' Bassem
al-Hourani, who said he was a resident at the targeted compound, told
the Al-Arabiya television network in a telephone interview.

``I heard screams of the children and women. I don't know what
happened to my friends if anybody was injured,'' he said. ``All the
glass in my house were shattered.''

An American Embassy spokeswoman said the explosions were near, but not
in, the diplomatic quarter. It wasn't known if there were any
casualties.

Residents said the explosion occurred near a building or compound
called Mahiya.

American diplomatic missions in Saudi Arabia were closed Saturday for
an undetermined period amid warnings that a terror attack could be
imminent in the tense Gulf kingdom.

Almost all the foreign embassies in Riyadh -- including the U.S.
Embassy -- and most diplomats' homes are inside the quarter, an
isolated neighborhood whose entrances are guarded.

But there are several residential compounds housing Western business
people relatively near the diplomatic quarter, located on the city's
west side.

A western diplomat said he got a call from a friend who reported
seeing smoke rising from a building on the other side of the
diplomatic quarter near an area where the palaces of the royal
family's senior princes are located.

The city's main palaces, including those of senior princes and the
king's sprawling Riyadh residence, are just outside the east side of
the diplomatic quarter. Each of the palaces is behind a high wall,
with automatic gates for cars to drive through, and guards.

A May attack on western residential compounds in Riyadh killed 35
people, including the nine attackers. Since the, Saudi authorities
have arrested hundreds of suspected militants throughout the country.

Three Explosions Strike Saudi Arabia