The audacious attack seems to have been unprecedented

"The kingdom will eliminate terrorism no matter how long it takes," said Crown Prince Abdullah.

The gunmen killed two Americans, two Britons, an Australian and a Saudi national guard.

Security forces pursued and shot dead all four attackers, who had fled the scene, the authorities said.

The attack took place at offices just outside a petrochemical plant partly owned by the US firm Exxon-Mobil.

Saudi Arabia said three of the gunmen worked at the site and used their entry passes to gain access, sneaking the fourth attacker in with them.

Australia has said al-Qaeda was probably behind the attack.

"Al-Qaeda people are very active in Saudi Arabia, where one of al-Qaeda's key objectives is the overthrow of the regime," Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer told an Australian TV station on Sunday.

One "could safely assume" the Islamic militant network was involved, he said.

UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said he was "shocked and sickened" by what he called an act of terrorism.

The US Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, James C Oberwetter, said he appreciated "everything the Saudi authorities [were] doing to fight terrorism".

'Evil rampage'

The interior ministry said three foreigners - an American, a Canadian and a Pakistani - were also wounded in Saturday's attack.

An official quoted by the state news agency denied reports that the body of one dead foreigner had been dragged through the streets by the attackers.

Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Britain, Prince Turki al-Faisal, described the attack as "an indiscriminate evil rampage".

Four of the Westerners killed were working for Swedish-Swiss engineering giant ABB. The fifth was sub-contracted to work for it.

Saudi Arabia has seen a year-long wave of Islamist militancy, targeting mainly foreigners.

More than 50 people have been killed in suicide bombings in the capital Riyadh, including an attack on a security building last month but this is the first known attack by anti-Western groups on an oil facility in Saudi Arabia.

Yanbu, together with Jubail, is home to much of the kingdom's oil-refining and petrochemicals industries.

Such attacks must be condemned. Foreigners are like guests in our countries and they are not involved in crimes like war, etc. But at the same time, the US should think about its policies, not to be hard on Muslims. Instead they should make good relations with Muslim countries.
Zain, Dubai, UAE

The attack is not the first and shall certainly not be the last given the significant base for Islamic militants in the Kingdom, who can remain well hidden given the very closed and private society within which people live here.

In view of the bubble of young disillusioned people coming in to the workplace with little education and no job prospects I can only fear that it will become a lot worse before it gets better.
Mark David, Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia

I thought it was unemployment that caused these terrorist attacks but if three of the attackers were working for the company they attacked it proves that unemployment is not behind terror attacks.

Distruction of peace is behind these attacks and undermining the security and creating a atmosphere of fear among the non-Saudis and locals together. Fadel Saifudin, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

I have worked in Yanbu three times over the past 25 years, a total of 10 years in the Industrial City. Yanbu currently has a population of approximately 60,000 with approximately 15% of them being expatriates.

The city is ruled by the muttawahs, members of the Society for the Propogation of Virtue and the Eradication of Vice. Small men with a lot of power.

The city has no social contact places at all despite western planners being employed to create a city for the 21st Century. Westerners are constantly subject to minor restrictions which if not complied with can lead to deportation.

There is constant abuse by the religious extremists and I assume this is one group that took matters further than most.

It is too easy to blame al-Qaeda. If al-Qaeda wanted to make a statement they could make an explosion at any of the two refineries, petrochemical plant, NGL plant or crude terminal; all within the industrial area of the city. Bill Williams, Yanbu al-Sinaiyah, Saudi Arabia

This is criminal act. Islam has nothing to do with terrorism
Yousif al-Mulhim, Jubail Industrial City

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