Three of four attackers who killed 22 persons in the Saudi city of Khobar were allowed to escape because they were threatening to kill 242 people being held as human shields, a senior Saudi Interior Ministry official told CNN.
The official said Monday the attackers told Saudi commanders they were wearing explosive belts and would set off blasts killing the people they were holding.
At that point, the official said, the Saudi commanders decided to let them go.
The three men fled in a car belonging to a resident of a residential complex they had penetrated. They changed cars several times and eluded Saudi security forces, the official said.
A Web site connected to the Jerusalem Brigade, the group which claimed the attack, carried a report Monday saying the attackers created a diversion and slipped into the compound that houses oil workers. (Albawaba.com)
© 2004 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
