Patterns of Global Terrorism 1997 - Saudi Arabia
| Publisher | United States Department of State |
| Author | Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism |
| Publication Date | 1 April 1998 |
| Cite as | United States Department of State, Patterns of Global Terrorism 1997 - Saudi Arabia, 1 April 1998, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/4681071dc.html [accessed 6 June 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
There has been no solution to the question of responsibility for the June 1996 bombing of the Khubar Towers housing facility near Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. In that incident, a large truck bomb killed 19 US citizens and wounded more than 500 others. Although the Saudi authorities have arrested and detained several persons in connection with the incident, legal proceedings have not reached a conclusion.
In March, a Saudi national named Hani al-Sayegh was arrested by Canadian authorities. Papers submitted to the Canadian court alleged al-Sayegh had participated in the Khubar Towers bombing as a member of Saudi Hizballah, and he was deported to the United States. Once he was in this country, however, al-Sayegh reneged on an agreement with US prosecutors, under the terms of which he would have pled guilty to a charge of conspiracy unrelated to the Khubar Towers attack, in return for providing information about those responsible for the bombing. US authorities were unable to marshal sufficient evidence to prosecute him for any crime. Prosecutors turned him over to US immigration authorities. He was ruled excludable, although a number of legal issues remain to be decided. Saudi authorities have requested that al-Sayegh be returned to Saudi Arabia in connection with their own Khubar investigation.
The United States continued to receive reports of threats against US military and civilian personnel and facilities in Saudi Arabia, including bomb threats, but there were no further terrorist incidents in the Kingdom.
In March 1997 renegade Saudi terrorist financier Usama Bin Ladin publicly threatened to attack US forces in Saudi Arabia to force a US withdrawal from the region. Local South Asian press reports indicated that he continued to make statements threatening Western interests throughout the year; however, in midyear statements to Western media, Bin Ladin evaded the question of his responsibility for previously claimed anti-US attacks in Somalia and Yemen.
