'Are you Muslim? Give proof'
2004-05-31 07:25
Khobar, Saudi Arabia - The gunmen went from house to house, rifling through papers, studying home decorations for clues, asking probing questions as they hunted down foreigners to kill.
As they recounted Saturday's attack on offices, homes and a resort in Khobar, Saudi Arabia, survivors told of a careful, cold-blooded search for victims, followed by unthinkable violence. In all, 22 people died.
One hotel guest recounted how he hid under his bed, listening to the clinking of grenades on tiles before they exploded. Others recalled the terrifying questions: "Are you a Muslim? Give us proof."
For an Iraqi-American engineer who identified himself only as Abu Hashem, 45, the ordeal began with the sound of gunfire as he was leaving the Oasis housing compound for work that morning. He rushed home, taking his wife and two children to a neighbour's house.
He went looking for a security guard and came across four lightly-bearded Saudi men who looked 18-25 years old.
"I asked them, 'Are you guards'. They said, 'We are'. Then they said, 'Are you a Muslim?' and I said, 'yes'. They said, 'Give us proof'," Abu Hashem recalled.
He quickly realised they weren't guards, and showed them his residency papers, which specified he was a Muslim.
"Then they said, 'You are American', and I told them I am an American Muslim. They said, 'We do not kill Muslims"', and became polite, apologising for breaking into his home.
Abu Hashem said they lectured him on following a proper Islamic lifestyle and told him: "We are defending our country and we want to take it from the non-believers."
As he walked with them, Abu Hashem saw the body of a Western cook who had been slain.
"The encounter was very painful because these guys had different attitudes," he said. "They have one attitude toward Muslims and another for non-Muslims. Islam does not sanction this."
Another resident of the Oasis compound, Abdul Salam al-Hakawati, a 38-year-old Lebanese corporate financial officer, said he, his wife and their two-year-old son hid upstairs after hearing gunfire on Saturday morning. Downstairs, he heard gunmen rummaging around before one said, "This is a Muslim house" - apparently seeing the framed Quranic verses on his walls.
Al-Hakawati said a young man in his early 20s, carrying a machine gun and wearing an ammunition belt, came upstairs, spotted him and greeted him in Arabic. The young man asked if he was Arab and Muslim.
When he said yes, al-Hakawati said the gunman told him: "We only want to hurt Westerners and Americans. Can you tell us where we can find them here?"
Al-Hakawati responded that he was new in the compound. The gunman said goodbye and, as he left, told al-Hakawati: "Our holy war is against Americans and Westerners, not against Muslims."
- AP