RPCV safe after Terrorist Attack RPCV Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley, the U.S. consul general in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia survived Monday's attack on the consulate without injury. Five consular employees and four others were killed. Abercrombie-Winstanley, the first woman to hold the position, has been an outspoken advocate of rights for Arab women and has met with Saudi reformers despite efforts by Saudi leaders to block the discussions.

The consul general, Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley, helped herd staff into secure locations within the consulate building. "She was very much in the middle of it -- in the front lines, as they say," Ereli told reporters. "She heard gunfire near her office, and she is one of the officials, one of the members of the consulate general staff, who took the kind of smart, decisive, quick action, I think, that helped save lives."



The consul general, Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley, helped herd staff into secure locations within the consulate building. "She was very much in the middle of it -- in the front lines, as they say," Ereli told reporters. "She heard gunfire near her office, and she is one of the officials, one of the members of the consulate general staff, who took the kind of smart, decisive, quick action, I think, that helped save lives."

Saudi attackers 'studied compound'
Two U.S. employees wounded in Jeddah consulate gun battle

Tuesday, December 7, 2004 Posted: 1606 GMT (0006 HKT)

Caption: Saudi forces gather outside the U.S. consulate compound in Jidda after Islamic militants forced their way in and killed five employees. Officials said four of the five assailants were killed, and the last was being held.
(Saudi Gazette)

(CNN) -- U.S. and Saudi authorities say militants responsible for a deadly attack on the U.S. Consulate in Jeddah had clearly studied how vehicles entered the compound.

A Saudi-based al Qaeda group has claimed responsibility for Monday's raid, which left nine people dead, and threatened more bloodshed to drive U.S. interests from the Arabian peninsula.

In a briefing Tuesday, U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia James Oberwetter told reporters that the actions of the attackers show they understood how consulate vehicles entered the compound.

Oberwetter also speculated that the location of the consulate -- near several busy main roads, providing fast escape routes -- may have been a factor in the attack as well.

He said two U.S. citizens were lightly wounded in addition to the five local consulate employees who died and eight who were injured.

At the U.S. State Department, spokesman Adam Ereli said that "obviously we're concerned when armed intruders penetrate the defensive measures and enter a diplomatic facility," but he also said authorities responded well.

"We're going to be looking at exactly what happened and how it happened in order to, sort of, assess what the vulnerabilities were," Ereli said.

Three of the attackers were killed in the initial gun battle, authorities said.

A Saudi source told CNN that another gunman -- who was wounded and captured -- died in the hospital. Another militant is in critical condition at a Saudi hospital, the source said.

A group calling itself the Qaeda al Jihad in the Arabian Peninsula claimed responsibility for the attack.

It said its fighters "managed to enter one of the crusader's big castles in the Arabian peninsula." The message was posted on several Web sites used by insurgents, although its authenticity could not be immediately confirmed.

"This operation comes as part of several operations that are organized and planned by al Qaeda as part of the battle against the crusaders and the Jews, as well as part of the plan to force the unbelievers to leave the Arabian Peninsula," said the group.

The group referred to the attack as the "The Falluja Battle," a reference to the Iraqi city where U.S.-led forces recently launched an attack to rid the city of insurgents, and said the brigade used in the attack was named after a militant killed in Falluja.

A top Saudi official said Monday that when the consulate vehicle stopped at a gate of the compound, three militants jumped out and opened fire with machine guns and lobbed hand grenades. Two more militants in a second vehicle also fought their way inside the compound.

Oberwetter said the attackers' first vehicle was stopped by a barrier that raised as soon as the consulate vehicle passed over it.

He said the group was intent on getting to the compound's main chancellery building, where most of the U.S. employees worked, and he credited the diplomatic security forces, the regional security team and U.S. Marines with "heroically" getting everyone to safety.

In Washington, Adel al-Jubeir, the foreign policy adviser to Crown Prince Abdullah, said the car carrying the three gunmen drove up behind the consulate vehicle at an outer checkpoint manned by national guard personnel around 11:15 a.m. (3:15 a.m. ET).

The consulate vehicle was directed to enter, while the other car was ordered to stop. At that point, three men jumped out, opened fire with machine guns and tossed hand grenades, and ran past the checkpoint into the consulate compound.

Moments later, a second car approached and two gunmen jumped out firing, al-Jubeir said. They also ran into the compound. Saudi security forces arrived at the scene and began working out a plan of attack with U.S. authorities.

Al-Jubeir said the Saudi emergency phone line -- the equivalent of the United States' 911 system -- received a call from a militant saying he was with the Falluja Brigade holding about 15 hostages and warning, "Tell the security forces not to enter."

But Saudi security forces stormed the compound, killing three of the terrorists and capturing the other two, al-Jubeir said. The forces then swept the compound and sealed it off to make sure it was secure.

Al-Jubeir said it took about four minutes for Saudi security forces to bring an end to the ordeal once they decided to storm the compound. From the time the attack began to its conclusion, about 30 minutes passed, he said.

U.S. President George Bush said the incident showed "terrorists are still on the move," trying to get the United States to leave Saudi Arabia and Iraq.
Embassy closed

The U.S. Embassy in Riyadh and the two U.S. consulates in Saudi Arabia will be closed Tuesday as a result of the attack, U.S. officials said.

Al-Jubeir said that although the attackers got onto the consulate grounds, they never got to the consulate building, which is protected by another checkpoint guarded by U.S. Marines. However, U.S. officials said the attackers did get beyond the second checkpoint right outside the main consulate.

Al-Jubeir said authorities decided to act because they felt anywhere from 30 to 100 people in buildings inside the compound were in danger of being shot by the terrorists.

He said the five people killed, in addition to the militants, were of diverse backgrounds: one Saudi, one Yemeni, one Indian, one Egyptian and one Pakistani.

Ereli, the U.S. State Department spokesman, said the U.S. consul general was in her office at the time of the attack. He said she immediately alerted Marines, staff members and the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh that an attack was under way.



Caption: US General Consul Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley. File Photo

The consul general, Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley, helped herd staff into secure locations within the consulate building. "She was very much in the middle of it -- in the front lines, as they say," Ereli told reporters. "She heard gunfire near her office, and she is one of the officials, one of the members of the consulate general staff, who took the kind of smart, decisive, quick action, I think, that helped save lives."

He said a building that houses Marines at the compound sustained significant damage.
Investigation

Authorities have warned of the potential terrorist attacks against U.S. interests in Saudi Arabia in recent months. As recently as October, the State Department warned about potential threats in the kingdom.

Al-Jubeir said security forces have been on higher alert throughout the kingdom, especially in Jeddah where forces have been involved in shootouts with militants the past few months. He said the assumption was that "something was going on," although there was no specific information about a possible attack on the U.S. Consulate.

In August, a vehicle from the U.S. Consulate in Jeddah was hit by gunfire from a single assailant while driving in the city. The two occupants of the vehicle -- the driver and a consulate American employee, were not injured in the attack.

Al Qaeda has increasingly launched attacks within Saudi Arabia, including two suicide bomb attacks that struck Riyadh housing compounds in May and July of 2003, killing 40 people, most of them Muslims.

When this story was posted in December 2004, this was on the front page of PCOL:

Is Gaddi Leaving? Rumors are swirling that Peace Corps Director Vasquez may be leaving the administration. We think Director Vasquez has been doing a good job and if he decides to stay to the end of the administration, he could possibly have the same sort of impact as a Loret Ruppe Miller. If Vasquez has decided to leave, then Bob Taft, Peter McPherson, Chris Shays, or Jody Olsen would be good candidates to run the agency. Latest: For the record, Peace Corps has no comment on the rumors.

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December 4, 2004: This Week's Top Stories Correction: PC to get 3.6% Budget increase 3 Dec What if Chris Matthews interviewed Bob Dylan? 3 Dec Bellamy addresses mine-free summit 2 Dec Donna Shalala says Protect families from HIV 1 Dec RPCV mentioned as candidate to head NAACP 1 Dec Bill Moyers wins Environmental Citizen Award 1 Dec RPCV is designer of Humane Trophies 1 Dec RPCV Chris Matthews interviews RPCV Chris Shays 30 Nov RPCV Bruce Anderson is town muckraker 30 Nov Tony Hall calls for more pressure on Sudan 30 Nov Peace Corps Census up for Second Straight Year 29 Nov Peace Corps gets chance in Mexico: 28 Nov more top stories...

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The Birth of the Peace Corps UMBC's Shriver Center and the Maryland Returned Volunteers hosted Scott Stossel, biographer of Sargent Shriver, who spoke on the Birth of the Peace Corps. This is the second annual Peace Corps History series - last year's speaker was Peace Corps Director Jack Vaughn.

Vote "Yes" on NPCA's bylaw changes Take our new poll. NPCA members begin voting this week on bylaw changes to streamline NPCA's Board of Directors. NPCA Chair Ken Hill, the President's Forum and other RPCVs endorse the changes. Mail in your ballot or vote online (after Dec 1), then see on how RPCVs are voting.

Charges possible in 1976 PCV slaying Congressman Norm Dicks has asked the U.S. attorney in Seattle to consider pursuing charges against Dennis Priven, the man accused of killing Peace Corps Volunteer Deborah Gardner on the South Pacific island of Tonga 28 years ago. Background on this story here and here.

Your vote makes a difference Make a difference on November 2 - Vote. Then take our RPCV exit poll. See how RPCV's are voting and take a look at the RPCV voter demographic. Finally leave a message on why you voted for John Kerry or for George Bush. Previous poll results here.

Kerry reaches out to Returned Volunteers The Kerry campaign wants the RPCV vote. Read our interview with Dave Magnani, Massachusetts State Senator and Founder of "RPCVs for Kerry," and his answers to our questions about Kerry's plan to triple the size of the Peace Corps, should the next PC Director be an RPCV, and Safety and Security issues. Then read the "RPCVs for Kerry" statement of support and statements by Dr. Robert Pastor, Ambassador Parker Borg, and Paul Oostburg Sanz made at the "RPCVs for Kerry" Press Conference. RPCV Carl Pope says the key to winning this election is not swaying undecided voters, but persuading those already willing to vote for your candidate to actually go to the polls. Take our poll and tell us what you are doing to support your candidate. Finally read our wrap-up of the eight RPCVs in Senate and House races around the country and where the candidates are in their races.

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