US says ready to help Saudi Arabia if needed

WASHINGTON, Oct 27 (Reuters) The United States is ready to help ally Saudi Arabia fight threats from al Qaeda, which recently said it planned to attack Saudi oil facilities, the State Department said today.

Britain's Royal Navy said earlier that coalition forces in the Gulf had been deployed to counter a possible threat to Saudi Arabia's Ras Tanura terminal, the world's biggest offshore oil facility, but State Department spokesman Sean McCormack declined to comment specifically on that.

''We have excellent counter-terrorism cooperation with Saudi Arabia and we of course would do whatever we could if there was a request from the Saudi government, both in general or specific terms, for assistance in countering a terrorist threat,'' said McCormack, adding that al Qaeda had recently threatened to attack Saudi oil facilities.

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