bq. Many people here believe that after years of threats, a struggle aimed at wrecking Saudi Arabia’s storied oil industry has begun. The nature of the violence has morphed; suicide bombings at housing compounds in Riyadh gave way to two major shooting rampages at oil companies last month. Workers are no longer rattled or nervous ? they are scared. Saudi stability once seemed a relatively safe bet; now analysts are questioning the security of the kingdom’s oil facilities and the tight grip of its ruling family. [“LA Times”:http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-saudis5jun05,1,5607761.story?coll=la-home-headlines (regn reqd)]
This is what the terrorists wanted in the first place. People who keep the Saudi economy moving are the immigrants, about 6 million of them. Recently there “was a move to prevent immigrants”:https://varnam.org/archives/000329.html from taking up certain jobs. But the terrorist activity has accelerated the fleeing of immigrants.
bq. Now foreigners are barricaded in gated communities, terrified to venture outside. Some are abandoning Saudi Arabia altogether. Workers at Aramco estimate that dozens of employees have resigned since last weekend. Nervous workers are urging their spouses and children to leave the country for the summer, or longer. Many are quietly looking for new jobs, hoping to line up a financial escape route. [“LA Times”:http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-saudis5jun05,1,5607761.story?coll=la-home-headlines (regn reqd)]
The British have warned of more _spectacular attacks_
bq. “We continue to believe that terrorists remain determined to carry out further attacks in Saudi Arabia, and that these may be in the final stages of preparation,” the Foreign Office said Sunday, advising against all but essential travel to the oil-rich kingdom. “The threat includes, but is not limited to, residential compounds and diplomatic and other official premises,” it said. [“Middle East Online”:http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=10106]
You may not like this place for all the hatred they export, but whatever happens here will affect your daily life.
Saudi Arabia in Terror
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