Westerners fear Saudi attacks

2004-05-31 20:04

Manama - Westerners in Saudi Arabia are considering moving to nearby Bahrain, from where they can commute to Saudi jobs and where they can live with less fear of attacks like a weekend terror rampage that killed 22.

A Bahraini estate agent, speaking on condition of anonymity, said two Westerners from Khobar, in eastern Saudi Arabia, came to her on Monday looking for houses ready for occupancy after the shooting and hostage-taking in Khobar.

This has been the worst terror attack on Saudi soil in a year and the second this month to target its oil industry.

A board member of a private school in Bahrain, who spoke on condition of anonymity on Monday, said the English-language school was contacted before the Khobar attack by two multinational companies.

Relies n six million expats

Based in Khobar, they were considering relocating outright and were checking for spots for their employees' children.

Many foreigners working in Saudi Arabia already live in Bahrain, which is just a half-hour drive across the 30km King Fahd Causeway from the eastern Saudi region where many oil companies have offices.

Bahrain, a close ally of the United States, has not seen the kind of extremist violence that has erupted repeatedly in Saudi Arabia in the past year.

Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, blamed for past terror attacks in Saudi Arabia, has vowed to destabilise the Saudi kingdom for its close ties to the United States.

Saudi Arabia relies on six million expatriate workers to run its oil industry and related sectors.

Saudis and foreigners living in the kingdom often spend weekends in Bahrain, already home to 200 000 expatriates.

Bahrain, unlike Saudi Arabia, has nightclubs, cinemas and bars and allows women to drive and appear in public unescorted and without completely covering themselves.

Residency procedures have been eased

Ahmed bin Eissa, director of Bahrain's immigration office, said he had received no specific requests from Westerners in Saudi Arabia to relocate here since the Khobar attack.

"I wouldn't blame people" if they decided to do that, Eissa said.

Procedures for residency in Bahrain had been eased in the past 18 months.

Expatriates working in Saudi Arabia who want to live in Bahrain no longer need a local sponsor. Instead, their Saudi employer can sponsor them.

Many families may wait until after the school year ends in June before making any move, said one Western diplomat in Riyadh.

Four United States schools in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province closed on Sunday and Monday because of the Khobar violence, according to their web sites.

- AP