U.S. Officials: Saudis Ignored Warnings

May 15, 2003 -- The Saudi government failed to act on urgent requests last week for increased security at residential compounds where Americans live, including one of the complexes attacked in Monday's deadly car bombings, U.S. officials told ABCNEWS.

In fact, a top White House official, Deputy National Security Adviser Steven Hadley, was sent last week to Riyadh, the Saudi capital, on a secret mission to warn that an attack was imminent. Hadley took details of specific intelligence picked up by U.S. agencies, officials told ABCNEWS.

By last Saturday, May 10, a U.S. government security team had identified the Jedawal compound as a specific target of an expected attack.

But officials told ABCNEWS that requests to have vehicles with machine guns mounted on them at the gate and a reaction team inside the complex were denied by an unidentified brigadier general in the Saudi air force, which guards the facility.

Jedawal and two other compounds housing Westerners in Riyadh were targeted Monday night by suicide bombers. At least 34 people were killed, among them at least seven Americans.

Behind the scenes, U.S. Ambassador Robert Jordan has been described as livid over the Saudi inaction, according to officials in Washington. He even suggested at one point that the United States should cut off diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia, officials said.

On ABCNEWS' Good Morning America on Wednesday, Jordan said all nonessential U.S. personnel should leave the country. "We're hoping they can start leaving immediately," he said.

Prince Bandar bin Sultan, Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States, responded to the accusations that security measures Jordan asked for did not take place.

"There is no 100 percent security," Bandar told ABCNEWS. "The problem is when success takes place in anti-terrorist activities, people don't know about it. It is the number of attempts that we have foiled, directly or indirectly, that people don't know. But we cannot, nor can you in the United States of America, guarantee 100 percent nothing will happen when a determined, crazy, evil person is determined to die."

Residents of all three compounds that were attacked say there was no major increase in security at the compound gates. In fact, guards at two of the three compounds were unarmed.

Saudis ID Al Qaeda Leader

The Saudi foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, however, denied the United States had asked for increased security but admitted the country had gaps in security. "We have to learn from our mistakes and seek to improve our performance in this respect," he said.

In an interview with the Arab News newspaper today, Interior Minister Prince Nayef blamed al Qaeda for the attacks and promised tougher security measures.

"Foreign hands supported the attacks. This is clear from theidentity of the terrorists who have received training inAfghanistan from al Qaeda," he said.

Saudi officials have identified Mohammed al-Juhani as the man they say ran the al Qaeda cell responsible for the attack. Al-Juhani was one of five men Attorney General John Ashcroft identified 16 months ago as a wanted al Qaeda operative who could try to pull off a suicide bombing.

A videotaped suicide message recorded by al-Juhani was discovered in Afghanistan in January 2002, evidence now of how al Qaeda commanders have been able to elude a worldwide manhunt and carry out their missions.

"But because the statements on the tapes suggest future terrorist acts, specifically suicide attacks, we are asking for the public's assistance in further identifying and locating the individuals on the tapes so that additional investigation can be made," said Ashcroft.

A retired FBI investigator says the Riyadh attacks show that al Qaeda is still a force to be reckoned with.

"It just tells me that they can operate — and still operate very effectively — and frankly, without a whole lot of problems," said Jack Cloonan, who worked on investigations involving Osama bin Laden.

It's not known if al-Juhani died in Monday's attack, but Saudi officials concede at least six of the terrorists, and maybe more, did escape and remain at large.