Bomb explodes in Saudi capital

Last updated at 16:53 21 April 2004


A suicide car bomber destroyed a Saudi security forces building in the capital today, killing a senior officer and at least nine other people.

Medical and security sources in Riyadh said more than 60 people were wounded in what an official said was the sixth attempt to mount such a "terrorist attack" in a week. Five others had been foiled.

The blast, which coincided with a visit to the city by a top US official, tore the front off the six-storey administrative block. Saudi television showed uniformed security force personnel in hospital and said some children were also injured.

The kingdom, a key US ally and the world's largest oil exporter, is battling a tide of Islamist militancy linked to Saudi-born Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network, which Washington accuses of the September 11, 2001 attacks on US cities.

Last year, suicide bombs killed 50 people in Riyadh.

Last week, Washington ordered non-essential diplomats out of the Gulf state and warned Americans they should leave, citing fresh signals of possible attacks on US and Western interests.

US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage held talks on Wednesday with Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah. They discussed Iraq and bilateral ties, which have been strained after the September 11 attacks carried out by mainly Saudi hijackers.

Fires raged long after the blast, which left a deep crater and a street carpeted in debris from the shattered building.

"We believe it is a terrorist attack," a Saudi Interior Ministry source told Reuters. He said a car packed with explosives blew up in the

capital's al-Murabaa district.

Witnesses said they saw a body in the vehicle that detonated - apparently that of the bomber.

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