Terrorism Saudi Arabia

As troops began installing a 400-foot security perimeter around a military compound bombed by terrorists last week, President Clinton on Saturday appointed a retired general to carry out a "full assessment" of the attack and to review the safety of U.S. forces across the Middle East. The installation of the widened buffer around the Khobar Towers housing complex near Dhahran was announced during a visit by Defense Secretary William J.

Sixteen Shiite Muslims from Kuwait were beheaded in Saudi Arabia for exploding two bombs in Mecca last July at the height of the Muslim pilgrimage to the holy city, the Saudi Interior Ministry said. A statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency said 10 of those beheaded were of Iranian origin and two were of Saudi descent. The statement implicitly blamed Iran for the attacks, which killed a man and wounded 16 others.

A suspect wanted in the truck bombing in Saudi Arabia that killed 19 U.S. servicemen last year has dismissed his lawyer and said he does not want to cooperate with U.S. authorities, the attorney said Thursday. "He said, 'No deal, no cooperation,' and that was it," lawyer Doug Baum said. "If he gets rid of me, then there's no way for this deal to go ahead. He's burned his bridges."

After months of frustration with Saudi Arabia over its handling of a bombing in June that killed 19 U.S. servicemen stationed there, American investigators believe that the arrest in Canada of an Iranian-educated Saudi may be a major break in the case. The suspect is believed to belong to the terrorist group thought responsible for the attack. The FBI is now pressing for access to Hani Abdel Rahim Hussein Sayegh, who was picked up last Tuesday as he was shopping with a friend in downtown Ottawa.

FBI Director Louis J. Freeh left for Saudi Arabia on Tuesday amid growing U.S. concern about Saudi Arabia's interrogation tactics and level of cooperation in its investigation of the June 25 bombing that killed 19 American servicemen. The Freeh mission came as Saudi security forces detained at least 200 people for questioning, U.S. officials said. They said they fear the circumstances of those detentions could hamper prosecution under U.S.

Saudi Arabia has warned Shia Muslims that they face Koranic punishments, which include beheading and crucifixion, if they disrupt this year's pilgrimage in Mecca, the official Saudi Press Agency reported. The Saudi government said it will punish "any act of disturbance, terrorism or sabotage such as demonstrations, slogan shouting and carrying of posters and banners, use of loud-speakers and blocking of roads and delaying of pilgrims from performing the rites," the news agency said.

More than a year after a truck bomb blasted the Khobar Towers military housing complex in Saudi Arabia, killing 19 American service personnel, a leading Saudi dissident insists that U.S. investigators are being deceived into accepting a false explanation for the attack.

The long-awaited Khobar Towers bombing indictments that implicate Iran in the murder of 19 U.S. service personnel seem certain to further strain the already frosty Tehran-Washington relationship. But the damage could have been far greater if the suspected Iranian officials had been charged with the crime.

The Clinton administration said Friday that it suspects the bombing of the U.S. military housing complex in Saudi Arabia on June 25 will be linked to Iran or some other terrorist-sponsoring country and warned that the United States will retaliate if that is true. Defense Secretary William J.

American survivors of a terrorist truck bomb attack at a Saudi military base told Wednesday of an explosion that seemed like "the end of the world," as Secretary of State Warren Christopher flew here to honor the blast's victims and pledge continued U.S. military vigilance in the strategic Persian Gulf region. As investigators stepped up a search for clues, U.S.