US agents join hunt for Saudi blast suspects

US intelligence agents yesterday joined the hunt for the suspected al Qaeda masterminds of suicide bombings in Riyadh after Saudi Arabia admitted to security lapses that sparked rare US criticism.

The United States said Saudi Arabia needed to do more to fight terrorism as a team of up to 60 FBI and CIA agents arrived in the kingdom after Monday's triple car bombings killed at least 34 people, including at least seven Americans.

Saudi Arabia, birthplace of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, admitted to security errors as the White House told its Arab ally to deal with the fact that it has terrorists on its soil.

"Obviously we've stated that we've had very good cooperation from Saudi Arabia in the war on terrorism, but there is more that needs to be done," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.

The US ambassador to Riyadh had earlier criticised Saudi Arabia for not responding swiftly enough to US demands for tighter security at residential complexes before they were bombed. The targeted compounds housed mainly foreigners.

The envoy, Robert Jordan, had also urged dependants to leave the kingdom, telling American residents: "(Saudi Arabia) is a front in the war against terrorism. Women and children don't belong on the battlefield".

Some 40,000 Americans live in Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter.

Speaking to reporters yesterday, Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef said Saudi Arabia would cooperate with the FBI but rejected charges that militancy was a homegrown phenomenon.

"Where do the terrorists spring from? Other countries. Where do the smugglers come from? Other countries that should dry up these sources," he said, pointing to smuggling across the country's long desert borders and extremism on the Internet.

His comments, however, contrasted with admissions by Saudi clerics and other officials that extremism and militancy were problems the kingdom had to resolve.

Saudi officials, quoted in the local press, suggested the attackers received their orders directly from bin Laden, but a Saudi security source said such assertions were premature.

"We don't rule it out, but it's too early in the investigation to say this. There is no evidence so far," the senior source said.

Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal vowed to find those behind the bombings and said al Qaeda would regret its action.

He admitted Saudi security measures could have been better but denied the kingdom had failed to act on US warnings of an imminent attack against Westerners.

"The fact that terrorism happened is an indication of shortcomings, and we have to learn from our mistakes and seek to improve our performance in this respect," he told a news conference on Wednesday night.

"Whoever did this will regret it because they have unified this country's determination to extract this cancer (terrorism) and ensure that it doesn't return."

The United States also has strong suspicions that al Qaeda, which it blames for the September, 11, 2001 attacks on American cities, was behind Monday's explosions.

The official Saudi death toll includes one Briton, but the British Foreign Office said this number might rise to three pending the identification of two more bodies. A British police team has joined the investigation.

In Washington, US officials said an envoy of President George W. Bush had travelled to Riyadh shortly before the bombings to convey US fears about an imminent attack.

That mission was disclosed after the White House openly criticised the kingdom, whose ties with Washington have come under strain since the September 11 attacks, in which 15 of the 19 suicide hijackers were Saudis.

The State Department said eight Americans had been killed in Monday's bombings and 17 were in hospital, one in critical condition. Official Saudi figures said seven Americans died.

Saudi officials said the prime suspects were 19 al Qaeda suspects who fled last week after a shootout with Riyadh police. Checkpoints were being set up across the vast desert kingdom.

Diplomats said one of these suspects had surrendered to Saudi authorities before the attack.

The bombings took place hours before US Secretary of State Colin Powell visited Riyadh as part of a Middle East tour to explain US policy after the toppling of Iraq's Saddam Hussein.