The United States repeated on Wednesday its advice that private US citizens leave Saudi Arabia and a US official said Washington continued to receive general information about threats to Western interests in the kingdom. The United States has twice this year strongly urged US citizens to leave Saudi Arabia after attacks on Westerners in the world's largest oil exporter and pulled nonessential diplomats from its embassy in Riyadh. A US State Department official said the recommendation to Americans remains the same because the threats persist.
"The embassy continues to receive information concerning potential threats to American and Western interests. We believed it was appropriate and in keeping with our no-double standards policy to make sure the general public had updated information," said the official who asked not to be named. The official stressed that the United States had not received any new information on a specific threat. |