The bombing, which reduced several buildings in the compound on the capital's edge to piles of smoking rubble, occurred on the heels of intelligence warnings of attacks against foreign interests in the kingdom -- particularly Western ones -- and followed a series of sharp confrontations in recent days between government forces and suspected militants.
"The people who did this, and I'm very sure they are commanded by Al Qaeda, can't find a way to get at the targets they want to hit," said a knowledgeable Saudi official, speaking on the condition of anonymity. "We have been putting more and more pressure on them, and by hitting a soft target like this one, they are sending a message that they are motivated to strike and very much capable of doing so."
US Deputy Secretary of State Richard L. Armitage, who was on a scheduled trip in Riyadh to hold talks with senior government officials, said he was "personally quite sure" that Al Qaeda militants were behind the attack Saturday night "because this attack bears the hallmark of them."
"I can't say that last night's attack was the only or last attack," Armitage told reporters. "My view is that these Al Qaeda terrorists -- and I believe it was Al Qaeda -- would prefer to have many such events."
Western counterintelligence agencies have been cooperating for some time with the Saudi government, which launched a wide-ranging crackdown on suspected anti-Western militants following deadly car bombings May 12 that also targeted housing compounds where foreigners lived. Thirty-five people, including nine attackers, died in those blasts.
Saudi police officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the fact that the same method was employed in both attacks -- volleys of gunfire unleashed before at least one suicide car bomber rammed his way in -- and the similarity in the type of explosives used pointed to Al Qaeda, which was also suspected in the May bombings.
Among the dead were a number of women and at least five children, hospital officials said. US State Department spokeswoman Amanda Batt said an undetermined number of Americans were among the wounded, although she said no American was seriously hurt.
