Help Pinoys in Saudi, GMA orders DFA

President Arroyo ordered the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) yesterday to provide protection and assistance to Filipinos in Saudi Arabia as three Filipinos were killed and three others wounded Saturday after al-Qaeda-linked militants stormed and took over a housing compound in the Saudi Arabian oil-city of Al-Khobar.

Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said a DFA team monitoring the situation in Iraq has been ordered to watch developments in Saudi Arabia.

"The Iraq team will be giving detailed reports to our president through the Department of Foreign Affairs," he said.

Jose Brillantes, foreign affairs undersecretary for migrant workers’ affairs, said Ambassador to Jeddah Bahnarim Guinomla and labor attaché Delmar Cruz have been instructed to make arrangements for the immediate repatriation of the victims.

Filipinos in Saudi Arabia have been advised to remain indoors and keep in touch with the embassy, he added.

Brillantes said retired Gen. Roy Cimatu, special envoy to the Middle East, has met with Philippine ambassadors in the region to discuss contingency plans for Filipinos in case of hostilities.

A number of Filipinos in Saudi Arabia have been in the kingdom from 12 to 18 years, he added.

Brillantes said Guinomla is finalizing a report on what help to be given to Filipinos in Saudi Arabia in case of emergencies.

Around 200,000 of the estimated 800,000 to 900,000 Filipinos in Saudi Arabia are based in Al-Khobar, he added.

Speaking over dzBB radio yesterday, Guinomla said it was not clear if the casualties came after Saudi troops stormed the housing compound to end the hostage crisis or if they were killed earlier.

"We want to visit at the hospital those wounded and we would also be checking on the remains of the three reported deaths," he said.

Guinomla said earlier reports from the field indicated two other Filipinos were trapped in the building at the time of the assault by Saudi forces.

"We are awaiting word on what happened to the two because the Saudi security forces assaulted, stormed the building and our latest information is that about six to seven of the militants have surrendered," he said.

"We are calling on all our citizens here to take care. The nature of terrorism is that we don’t know who the targets are, who will make the attack and where," Guinomla said.

Families of the victims would be contacted soon by representatives of the DFA, he added.

Asked to clarify the number of Filipino casualties, he said: "Three deaths and three more wounded."

The crisis ended about 25 hours after it began Saturday morning with gunmen wearing military-style dress opening fire and engaging in shootouts with Saudi security forces at two oil industry compounds housing offices and employee apartments in Al-Khobar, 400 kilometers northeast of Riyadh, killing at least 10 people.

They then fled up the street into a high-rise in Oasis Residential Resorts complex, where they took the hostages.

Just after sunrise, three security forces helicopters arrived and dropped off commandos.

Moderate gunfire, which had been heard sporadically overnight, rang out again and within a few hours, the standoff was over.

An Agence France Presse correspondent at the scene said two helicopters hovered overhead and the crackle of gunfire was intermittently heard as the troops secured the roof of the six-storey structure at The Oasis compound before slipping into the building.

The landing by some 40 troops came around three hours after a bout of intense firing with automatic and heavy weapons appeared to signal the start of the operation to free the hostages before the shooting tapered off.

The Saudi ambassador in Washington said seven US hostages had been rescued by Saudi forces, but it was not clear when this happened.

"Seven hostages have been rescued," Prince Bandar bin Sultan told Fox television. "Two are wounded and five are all right."

Two Americans were killed in Yanbu, and a third was among the dead in Al-Khobar, prompting the US embassy to renew a call it made in mid-April for US citizens to leave Saudi Arabia.

Accounts by various sources on the ground and diplomats suggested the death toll was higher than 10.

British diplomats at the scene were unable to confirm that a Briton was among the dead, but London newspapers reported Sunday that the body of a British national, identified as Michael Hamilton, was dragged for over 1.6 kilometers behind a car.

Quoting a a Saudi security official, the Associated Press reported from Al-Khobar several American, European and other hostages were released yesterday and a gunman believed to be the leader of the militants holding them has been arrested.

"It has ended," the security official was quoted as saying. "One has been arrested and two are in the process of being arrested — they are surrounded."

Special security forces and army troops lay siege to at least four gunmen after they went on a shooting spree in Al-Khobar in the oil-rich Eastern Province early Saturday, attacking The Oasis complex and two oil-related facilities in Al-Khobar.

Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz said Saturday night that around 10 Saudis and foreigners were killed in the attacks, the latest in a wave of terror to hit Saudi Arabia over the past year, leaving some 65 people dead and hundreds injured.

Security officials have said between 45 and 60 people were being held hostage, mostly Westerners including Americans, Italians and Dutch.

In Rome, the Italian foreign ministry said there were no Italians among the hostages.

The Dutch foreign ministry said three Dutch hostages had been released "in coordination with local authorities."

Several Saudi newspapers reported yesterday that the attackers threw at least one body from the building where they were holed up and had mutilated some of the bodies of those they killed.

Reporters were kept back from the compound, but a green bus carrying Saudi troops as well as some police cars and ambulances could be seen pulling out of it; they did not appear rushed or use sirens.

A soldier on the scene said that seven gunmen had been arrested.

When told that security officials were saying two were not yet in custody, he said they were on two floors that troops had not yet reached.

Neither the soldier nor the security official would comment further, with the security official saying the Saudi interior ministry would issue a statement on the resolution later.

The violence has been blamed on presumed sympathizers of the Al-Qaeda network, and a statement purported to be from the group claimed responsibility for the Al-Khobar carnage, although its authenticity could not be confirmed.

Witnesses said four Saudi security men were also killed in a shootout with the gunmen Saturday morning at The Oasis.

"The heroic mujahedeen in the Jerusalem Squad were able, by the grace of God, to raid the locations of American companies... specializing in oil and exploration activities and which are plundering the Muslims’ resources, on Saturday morning," said a statement signed by the Al-Qaeda Organization in the Arabian Peninsula.

"They have so far managed to kill or wound a number of crusaders, God’s enemies," said the statement received by e-mail.

The attack was the second deadly assault this month against the Saudi oil industry and came as oil prices have been driven to new highs partly by fears that the Saudi kingdom - the world’s largest

oil producer - is unable to protect itself from terrorists. — With AFP