Ambassador praises Saudi attack response

JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia -- Islamic militants who shot their way into the heavily fortified U.S. Consulate, killing five employees, clearly had studied how cars entered the compound, the U.S. ambassador said Tuesday, praising actions that stopped the assault, but acknowledging room for improvement.\nAmbassador James C. Oberwetter thanked Saudi forces for "freeing the compound" and said Marine guards inside performed their duty heroically. Saudi officials, meanwhile, said four assailants were Saudis and that a fifth person killed hadn't yet been identified.\nNone of the three assailants identified Tuesday -- Fayez bin Awad al-Juhaini, Eid bin Dakhil Allah al-Juhaini, Hassan bin Hamid al-Hazimi -- appear on the kingdom's list of 26 most-wanted militants. The statement did not say whether the al-Juhainis were related, or provide details about them.\nAssailants believed linked to al Qaeda shot their way through a gate in Monday's bold assault on the compound, but were killed or captured before penetrating consular buildings inside.\nFive consulate employees -- one Yemeni, a Sudanese, a Filipino, a Pakistani and a Sri Lankan -- were killed and another four were injured. Consul-general Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley said two American staff were slightly wounded, and one was up and about Tuesday.\nOberwetter, speaking to journalists at a Jiddah hotel, praised the consulate's security measures, saying the attackers' car was able to reach the gate, but no farther, and the attackers had to enter the grounds on foot. Still, he said, "the events of yesterday show the need for improvement. We will examine what additional steps need to be taken."\nJournalists were not allowed inside the compound, located in the heart of the Red Sea port city and surrounded by 10-foot-high walls. Oberwetter said it would open for business in a few days. Embassy spokeswoman Carol Kalin said requests have been made to Washington for a Wednesday reopening of the embassy in Riyadh and consular office in the eastern city of Dhahran, which had been closed to the public as a precaution.\nOberwetter said the attackers "clearly understood how cars entered the compound and they were conducting surveillance."\n"A single car in the far lane slowly followed a consular car and attempted to enter the compound," the ambassador said. But a road-surface barrier rose immediately after the consular car and blocked the attackers' car, he said.\nThe assailants then got out of the car and "began to engage local Saudi staff in a great firefight at the front gate, and were able to access the compound."\nU.S. embassies and consulates worldwide rely almost exclusively on host-nation soldiers and police or private security guards to guard their outer walls. Inside, physical security is provided by U.S. Marines and federal civilian officers.\nOberwetter did not say whether the Marines inside the consulate had engaged in the gunbattle, but said they "performed their duties heroically." U.S. military officials have said they believed four Marines were inside the consulate at the time.\nWhen asked if the Marines had engaged the attackers, Kalin said only "their job is to take defensive action, and that could include engagement of this kind."\nOberwetter also extended his condolences to families of the victims and said the Saudis are doing well on security.\n"The Saudi government is doing everything it can," he said. "When we have asked for help, we have received it. They're doing a good job."\nThe Saudi government has condemned the attack and Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal was reported to have called Oberwetter afterward.\n"The kingdom is determined to root out terrorism and preserve its security and stability," the state-guided newspaper Okaz quoted Saud as telling the ambassador.\nThe Interior Ministry said five Saudi security officers were hospitalized for wounds in the consulate gunbattle, and most had been discharged by midday Tuesday. Interior Ministry spokesman Brig. Gen. Mansour al-Turki has said one officer was seriously injured.\nMeanwhile Tuesday, Kuwait's foreign minister, Sheik Mohammed Al Sabah, expressed his country's solidarity with the kingdom, telling the official Kuwait News Agency: "What happens to Saudi Arabia feels like it is happening in Kuwait."\nOil prices initially rose, in part because of the consulate assault, but by Tuesday had dropped slightly. Light, sweet crude for January delivery fell 35 cents to $42.63 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices had risen Monday from last week, when they settled beneath $43 for the first time in nearly three months.\nIn London, the January contract for Brent crude was down 27 cents to $39.38 on the International Petroleum Exchange.