Saudis say Yanbu attacker had links to London group

YANBU, Saudi Arabia -- Saudi Arabia blamed a wanted man with links to a London-based opposition group for an attack on an oil contractor's office, saying Tuesday he had slipped back into the kingdom to lead his brother and two cousins on a bloody rampage.

The attack Saturday at the offices of ABB Lummus Global Inc. in Yanbu killed five Westerners and a Saudi and prompted scores of foreigners to flee the kingdom. All four attackers were killed in a shootout with police.

The leader of the attack was Mustafa Abdel-Qader Abed al-Ansari, a Saudi who was wanted by security forces, according to an Interior Ministry statement.

It said al-Ansari left the kingdom in 1994 and joined the London-based Committee for the Defense of the Legitimate Rights, a group of Saudi dissidents who advocate overthrowing the monarchy.

He "infiltrated the borders to carry out despicable plans," the ministry said.

Founders of the Committee for the Defense of the Legitimate Rights said al-Ansari first contacted them in 1994.

Mohammed al-Masaari said al-Ansari came to London at age 22 after spending time with Muslim fighters in Bosnia and Afghanistan. Al-Ansari briefly joined the group, which sent him to study English in Cambridge, and married a British woman, he said.

But al-Ansari "disappeared" in 1997, al-Masaari said. He said he later heard he had been arrested in Yemen.

"We thought that he was still imprisoned in Yemen, or probably in Guantanamo," al-Masaari said, referring to the U.S. detention center for terrorist suspects in Cuba.

"I found him simple, probably naive and lacking in knowledge of politics and Islamic law. He was enthusiastic for holy war and eager to go anywhere to fight ... but we told him that we are only active in political and religious (matters)," al-Masaari said.

Saad Al-Faqih, another founder who has since split with al-Masaari, had a similar impression.

"I remember him as a very simple-minded person with little education," he said.

Muslim activists in London, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press that Britain's Scotland Yard had been pursuing al-Ansari for years and that its agents had questioned many Muslim activists about him. Neither the British government nor Scotland Yard would confirm that.

In the days following the attack, Saudi officials have blamed varying interests.

Interior Minister Prince Nayef said Tuesday that al-Qaida was likely behind it. His ministry's statement linked the attack to Saudi exiles in London. The Saudi Cabinet blamed only "external forces" interested in spreading chaos.

Crown Prince Abdullah has blamed Zionism for misguiding the attackers. And Foreign Minister Prince Saud, who made note of the lead assailant's connection to Saudi dissidents in London, said it is "well known" that the London dissidents "have contacts and are financed by parties that are linked to Israel."

Al-Masaari dismissed accusations of any Israeli connection to his group.

According to the Interior Ministry report, relayed Tuesday by the official Saudi Press Agency, al-Ansari enlisted his brother, Ayman Abdel-Qader al-Ansari, and two cousins who themselves were brothers: Samir Suleiman al-Ansari and Sammy Suleiman al-Ansari.

Two Americans, two Britons, an Australian and a Saudi were killed, and dozens were wounded in the attack and ensuing police chase. The attack reinforced worries about the safety of Westerners in Saudi Arabia and many heeded calls by the U.S. Embassy to leave.

Under the watch of guards with automatic weapons, about 20 American ABB Lummus employees gathered Tuesday at the Holiday Inn and were shuttled to the airport in five vans accompanied by Saudi police cars. Armored vehicles and police jeeps stood guard outside the hotel in Yanbu, 220 miles north of the Red Sea port of Jiddah.

The Americans refused to speak to reporters.

Many of the employees leaving Tuesday had been among the Americans in Yanbu who were encouraged to leave the day before in a private meeting with U.S. Ambassador James C. Oberwetter. The embassy has been urging private citizens to depart since last month, warning of credible threats against American interests.

The Saudi foreign minister criticized the U.S. Embassy for telling its citizens to leave without first consulting with the Saudi government.

"We think that assessing these threats must be done in conjunction with the host nation before taking any measures," Prince Saud said.

He defended security measures in the kingdom, but said "the deviant group chooses vulnerable targets, without any aim except killing and bloodletting."

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Associated Press writer Salah Nasrawi contributed to this report from Cairo, Egypt.