| Saudi Arabia has been quietly preparing for another round of Al Qaida attacks against Westerners. Saudi security sources said Al Qaida has demonstrated signs of renewing its effort to abduct and kill Americans, Britons and other Westerners in the kingdom. They said authorities have already received reports of gangs of suspected Al Qaida operatives or supporters surveying Saudi companies for Westerners. On July 7, three Saudis held a guard at gunpoint at the Al Zamil Group's construction facility in Dammam and demanded that he take them to Western employees. The gunmen drove off after the guard convinced them that there were no Westerners on the premises. Later, a German national who served as a consultant to Al Zamil fled Saudi Arabia. The incident was the first reported since the death of Al Qaida network chief Abdul Aziz Al Muqrin. Al Muqrin was killed in a shootout in Riyad hours after his group executed a U.S. engineer, Paul Johnson, an employee of Lockheed Martin. Al Qaida's new chief in Saudi Arabia was identified as Saleh Awfi, 33, a former Saudi security officer who fought U.S.-led coalition forces in Iraq. |