SAUDI ARABIA: Militants linked to al-Qaeda renewed a threat to attack Saudi oil supplies, in spite of scant evidence to prove they have the capacity to break through the security measures protecting oil installations.
The move came partly in response to a statement released by Osama bin Laden, the al-Qaeda leader, which urged attacks on oil facilities in Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest producer.
Security experts said Saturday's statement from the "Al-Qaeda Organisation in the Arabian Peninsula" was a continuation of the earlier threat.
The statement, dated December 18th and issued on an Islamic website, said: "We call on all the mujahideen in the Arabian Peninsula to unify their ranks . . . and target the oil supplies that do not serve the Islamic nation but [ serve] the enemies of this nation."
It also called on militants to "[ strike at] all foreign targets, until the Arabian Peninsula is free of these infidels and the tyrants".
Saudi and foreign security officials have identified oil installations as a likely target for the terrorist network ever since the current wave of attacks began in the kingdom in May 2003.
However, widespread arrests by the security forces and improvements in thwarting attacks are seen as having weakened the ability of the extremists to cause damage.
Since militants linked to al-Qaeda began attacks in Saudi Arabia last year, the petrochemical centre of Yanbu and the oil industry hub of al-Khobar have been targeted.
But these attacks have been against so-called "soft targets" such as foreign civilians rather than against industrial installations.