Saudi vows to 'get the devils'
2003-11-10 08:33
Riyadh - Saudi Arabia vowed on Monday not to rest until the capture of suspected al-Qaeda militants who blew up a housing compound killing at least 17 people, wounding about 120 more and sparking world outrage.
"We will get the perpetrators... who claim to be Muslim," Interior Minister Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz said, insisting the kingdom would not be destabilised as US President George W Bush offered full support.
"We will get to them, God willing, no matter how long it takes," Nayef pledged after inspecting the devastated al-Muhaya residential compound west of Riyadh.
"This will be the job of all the sons of this homeland, chiefly security forces, until we can rest assured that our country is free of devils and wicked people," he said.
Bush telephoned Crown Prince Abdullah to assure the de facto Saudi leader that the United States "stands with Saudi Arabia in the war against terrorism", a White House official said.
US deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage, meanwhile, met Abdullah in Riyadh for talks focusing on the fight against terrorism, saying he believed al-Qaeda was "probably" behind the attack.Create fear and spread terror
The objective of the al-Qaeda group headed by Saudi-born Osama bin Laden was "to bring down the Saudi government as well as to create fear and spread terror," said Armitage.
Nayef suggested the bombers were Islamist radicals, hundreds of whom have been rounded up by security forces since similar bombings against three residential compounds in Riyadh left 35 people dead on May 12.
Nayef said he wanted to tell the bombers "and those behind them that this country will continue to stand tall and will not be shaken by evil acts."
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan was "horrified", said his spokesperson Fred Eckhard.
The Saudi ambassador to London described bombers as an "evil cult" bent on destroying the kingdom as Arab leaders led strong condemnation of the attack.
Prince Turki al-Faisal called on "all the people of the world to work with us in fighting this evil and ridding the international community of this plague."
Universally seen as being the work of al-Qaeda, the suicide bomber's strike with a stolen police vehicle packed with explosives provoked expressions of determination to fight terrorism.
The United States ordered its diplomatic staff and their families in Saudi Arabia to remain in their homes and not to leave the area of Riyadh where embassies are located.
Many Western countries renewed warnings to halt unnecessary travel to Saudi Arabia, urging their nationals already there to keep a low profile.