Explosion in Saudi city kills 2, injures 5

KHOBAR, Saudi Arabia -- A remote control bomb went off outside a shop in the eastern Saudi city of Khobar, police said. Saudi television reported two people were killed and five injured.

All the casualties were non-Saudis, the television said. There was no immediate word on their nationalities.

The powerful blast on King Khaled Street, a popular shopping district, shattered windows and damaged cars shortly before 8 p.m., according to witnesses, who refused to be identified.

Police said the explosion was caused by a bomb placed outside a shop and detonated by remote control.

Rescue workers and firefighters searched through the wreckage littered with broken glass as police sealed off the area in Khobar, a town on the Persian Gulf coast near Qatar, 250 miles northeast of the Saudi capital, Riyadh.

Previous attacks

Saudi Arabia has seen a number of bomb attacks since 1996 -- including two attacks in Khobar -- that Saudi officials said were linked to a settling of scores between criminals.

A White House spokesman said the explosion appeared unrelated to the Sept. 11 terror attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

"We're collecting information, but at this point we have no reason to believe it is anything other than an isolated and unconnected event," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Tensions high

Tensions have been high in the region following the terror attacks in the United States, blamed by Washington on Saudi exile Osama bin Laden. The United States is gathering an anti-terrorism coalition and has been gathering forces in the Gulf region for a possible attack on Afghanistan, which is sheltering bin Laden.

The Saudi kingdom has expressed support for the anti-terror coalition.

In 1996, 19 U.S. servicemen were killed when members of the dissident Saudi Hezbollah group bombed the Khobar Towers complex, located in Dahran, a town near Khobar. U.S. prosecutors have indicted 14 people in that case. Since the attack, U.S. military personnel have moved to Prince Sultan Air Base in the Saudi desert.

Saudi Arabia has also been dealing with a string of bombings that police say are linked to criminals. Two bombings in the capital, Riyadh, in November and December killed a Briton and injured four others. Another Riyadh blast in March injured a Briton and an Egyptian.

A blast in Khobar injured a Scottish man in December, and an American was seriously injured in Khobar when the package he was opening exploded in his face.

Three British men were arrested in Saudi Arabia in connection with some of the bombings.