FBI joins Saudi officials in attack investigation

The Saudis have displayed openness and accountability in handling the probe.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) -- A six-member FBI team was expected in Saudi Arabia today, but a U.S. diplomat said the FBI will aid -- not run -- the Saudi investigation into the suicide attacks that killed 34 people this week, including eight Americans.
Saudi and U.S. officials have clashed in the past over terror investigations. Some U.S. experts worry the Saudis will limit American access to suspects and evidence, as they did after the 1996 bombing of the Khobar Towers military dormitory that killed 19 U.S. service members.
The FBI team in the latest Al-Qaida terror case was kept small to avoid the perception that U.S. law enforcement officials were taking over, according to FBI officials in Washington. The group will determine what other personnel and resources need to be brought in.
"Saudi Arabia is a sovereign country and this is their investigation," the embassy official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "Whatever investigation is conducted by the FBI, I'm sure the Saudis will be involved in it."
Saudis more open
Current and former officials said the relationship between Saudi police and U.S. investigators has improved in the last few years. It already is clear that Saudi Arabia has been more open -- and accountable -- about this week's terror attacks than it was about the involvement of 15 of its citizens in the Sept. 11 hijackings.
On Wednesday, the foreign minister, Prince Saud, revealed that 15 Saudis -- and not nine as originally reported by the official media -- had taken part in Monday's attacks and acknowledged there had been security lapses. It was months after Sept. 11 before Saudis acknowledged 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi.
Saudi forensic experts have been working around the clock, under floodlights at night, since Monday's attacks, poring over the bomb sites and collecting shreds of paper, molten metal items and other debris that could help them piece together what happened and who was responsible.
Saudi officials, stung by criticism that they did too little to combat militancy ahead of the Sept. 11 attacks, have taken pains to show unusual openness and determination in the wake of Monday's attacks.
Reporters have been able to watch the forensic experts at work and the official television station carried footage of the targeted sites. Newspaper headlines did not shy away from using the word terror. And Saudi officials have been quick to volunteer details about the attacks.
"It's a very significant change in the way they're managing this [crisis]," said Edward S. Walker, a former U.S. ambassador to Egypt and Israel who also served in Saudi Arabia.
"Saudi Arabia must deal with the fact it has terrorists inside its own country," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said. "Their presence is as much a threat to Saudi Arabia as it is to Americans."
Crown Prince Abdullah went on national television earlier this week, vowing to "put an end" to those behind the attacks and to their supporters -- a bold statement that expands the circle by taking on the militants' sympathizers.
Saudi newspapers, which are privately owned and government guided, carried editorials using unusually harsh language to lash out at extremists who use religion to rally youths to carry out suicide attacks and who impose extremely strict social rules.
All women have to be covered in black cloaks in public. The sexes are not allowed to mix. Women cannot drive. They cannot get an education, travel or work without permission from a male guardian.
A big chunk of the school curriculum is devoted to religious studies, some of which encourage the rejection of non-Muslims.
Some in the U.S. administration have blamed this strict version of Islam for breeding the likes of Saudi-born Osama bin Laden, head of Al-Qaida.
In his news conference, Saud stressed that Saudi Arabia is safer now than before the car bombings. He said the attacks were designed to drive away non-Saudis.
Walker, who is president of the Washington-based Middle East Institute, said Saudis might be so upset with the carnage on their own soil they could turn against the extremists.
"It's because there are Saudi casualties. It was a civilian target, and it's a question of hospitality. The Saudis feel strongly that they have an obligation to foreigners when they're there," said Walker.
Besides the eight Americans, those killed Monday were seven Saudis, three Filipinos, two Jordanians, and one each from Australia, Britain, Ireland, Lebanon and Switzerland, according to the Interior Ministry. The toll of 34 included nine the Saudis have identified as among the attackers.
Business interests
Experts on Middle Eastern security said it was unlikely Monday's attacks would lead to an exodus of foreign workers.
But they said civilians and business interests are a soft target for Al-Qaida and that the Saudi government must reassure foreign companies that it is capable of dealing with the threat.
"The psychological impact of this attack is huge," said Kevin Rosser, a global terrorism analyst at the Control Risks Group in London, which provides security advice.
to companies.
"Businesses in the country have been on edge for the last 21/2 years," he said. "We have not seen an exodus of expatriates from the kingdom, but the Saudis are going to have to demonstrate they are on top of the problem."
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