Blasts Hit Riyadh Housing Compound

Other sources, however, put the number of killed at 20 to 30 as well as over a hundred others wounded, according to Reuters news agency, citing Western diplomats.

The blast came on the same day the United States closed its missions in Saudi Arabia for a security review after warning of what it termed “possible terror attacks” during the holy month of Ramadan, and which have been echoed by other Western states.

A Saudi official said Saturday night’s carnage bore the hallmarks of the al-Qaeda network headed by Saudi-born Osama bin Laden, whose followers in the Kingdom have been subjected to a relentless crackdown since they were blamed for last May’s triple bombings, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"The method in which the bombing was executed is similar to that used in the May 12 bombings" of three residential compounds, the Saudi official told AFP, requesting anonymity.

"This confirms that those who carried out the bombing belong to the al-Qaeda movement," he said.

A senior official at the site told AFP that at least five people – three Lebanese, one Sudanese and one Indian – were killed in the midnight (2100 GMT) blast at the al-Muhaya complex in the Wadi Laban suburb, located behind the al-Yamama royal palace and overlooked by the palace of King Fahd’s youngest son.

"So far, 99 people are known to have been wounded," he added.

An Arab woman died in the attack, a security official earlier said as rescue workers continued to dig through the wreckage of villas.

Three U.S. and three Canadian citizens, all of Arab descent, are among the wounded, according to a source at the hospital where they were treated.

Witnesses said the blast was the result of a suicide car bombing, carried out with a vehicle apparently stolen from security forces.

"A car laden with explosives succeeded in penetrating the fortified compound surrounded by cement blocks," a security officer at the site said.

"The car blew up inside the compound," he added, but could not tell if one suicide bomber or more were involved.

Compound owner Mohammad Saleh al-Muhaya said gunmen fired on guards from a hill overlooking the complex as the apparently stolen police jeep drove in.

A Sudanese guard named Assi Makki Zain was shot dead, he said.

An AFP correspondent at the scene saw the wreckage of the vehicle used in the bombing, which opened a crater around two meters (yards) deep in the ground.

At least 15 cars, including one with diplomatic license plates, were gutted by the explosion.

The blast, which shook buildings as far as the center of the Saudi capital, followed a series of Western warnings of possibly imminent terror attacks in Saudi Arabia.

A Saudi official told AFP that only one residential compound was bombed, denying an initial U.S. State Department account that three complexes were hit by explosions.

"There may have been two or three blasts in the al-Muhaya compound, but there were no explosions in three (different) compounds," the official said, requesting anonymity.

The Saudi Interior Ministry said a "terrorist bombing" rocked the al-Muhaya compound, at a time when many people would have been awake just hours before the "suhur" meal preceding the dawn-to-dusk fast observed by Muslims during Ramadan, but did not provide further details.

U.S. Confines Staff To Embassy

Following the bomb attack, Washington ordered its diplomatic staff and their families in Saudi Arabia to remain in their homes and not to leave the area of Riyadh where embassies are located, the State Department said.

"Because of the bombing at a Riyadh residential compound, the embassy is advising the American community in Riyadh that it currently remains closed to the public," the department said in a notice released by the U.S. embassy in the Saudi capital.

"In addition, embassy personnel and their dependents are restricting their movements and will remain in the Diplomatic Quarter pending further assessment of the security situation," it said.

The notice, a copy of which was provided to AFP in Washington by the State Department, did not elaborate.

In a notice released Friday, the embassy said it continued "to receive credible information the terrorists in Saudi Arabia have moved from the planning to operational phase of planned attacks in the kingdom."

"The embassy strongly urges all American citizens in the kingdom to be especially vigilant when in any area that is perceived to be American or Western," it said.

About 35,000 U.S. citizens live in the oil-rich kingdom and since May, they have been repeatedly warned about "terrorist actions" including suicide attacks, hijackings and kidnapping.

More recently, the warnings have included threats to commercial aircraft and maritime interests.