Foreigners wary but staying in Saudi after attacks

Riyadh, March 12: Rosalie and Robert Ramshaw came closer than most of Saudi Arabia's foreign residents to meeting the killers of four French nationals last month, but despite warnings of fresh attacks they are not ready to flee yet.

''We were on a desert trip 20 kilometres from where the incident took place,'' said Rosalie Ramshaw, an Australian nurse, holding the arm of her British husband at a trendy Riyadh mall.

''Sometimes it does get to the point where you consider leaving, when there is an attack on foreigners, but we are staying for now,'' added Robert Ramshaw.

The French nationals were killed by two suspected Islamic militants on Feb. 26 during a trip into the desert near the Muslim holy city of Medina. Saudi authorities warned foreign embassies last week that the group blamed could strike again.

The attack, the first to target foreigners in the kingdom since 2005, may not have scared the Ramshaws away from the country, but it has made them more cautious.

The Ramshaws and their British friend Martin Piper were the only foreigners to be seen at the mall at the weekend, unusual for a shopping spot favoured by Western residents.

Piper said the off-road biking club he is a member of had put its activities on hold because the warning urged foreigners to avoid travelling outside cities.

''Attacks like these dampen everything,'' said Piper, who works for a British firm and has spent 9 years in Saudi Arabia.

Desert Trips Off

Militants loyal to al Qaeda launched a violent campaign to topple the US-allied Saudi monarchy in 2003, carrying out suicide attacks on foreigners and state installations.

Some of the 100,000 Western residents in Saudi Arabia left after the earlier attacks, reducing the number to around 60,000, but many have since returned, diplomats say.

British and French embassy officials said it was too early to say if the latest attack would prompt another exodus, but one Western diplomat said foreigners so far appeared to be staying.

Tough security measures and a wide publicity campaign helped curb the violence but analysts and diplomats say radical Islamic ideology and anger at Western policy remain strong.

Increased security had encouraged foreign residents to leave their fortified compounds and get out of the cities to explore the desert country amid efforts by the state to encourage the development of a tourism industry.

''Desert trips are off now,'' said Rosalie. ''But we are not letting them win by cowering in our room. There is a lot to be done in the city,'' Robert added.

Militant Islamists have said they want to drive Westerners out of Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam.

But mosque preachers said attacks on foreign residents went against Islamic teachings and urged worshippers on Friday to cooperate in tracking down suspects in last month's attack.

John Sfakianakis, a banker who has spent several years in the kingdom, said the attack was not worrying him at all.

''There is a greater chance of being shot in Los Angeles or New York than by a radical Islamist here,'' he said.

Reuters>