Saudi authorities gave safe passage to three suspected Al Qaeda gunmen after they killed 10 of the hostages they were holding at a hotel in the oil hub of Khobar, a senior security official said.
The official, speaking Wednesday on condition of anonymity, said that upon hearing hostages had been killed, U.S. officials advised the Saudis that letting the militants go would avert a bigger catastrophe.
The U.S. Embassy did not have immediate comment on the Saudi official's account, which dovetailed with witness accounts. Officially, the Saudi Interior Ministry has said the three used hostages as human shields to escape Saudi commandos early Sunday. A fourth attacker was captured. The official said the three walked away about 2:20 a.m. Sunday, hours before 80 commandos landed on the roof of the hotel and began knocking on the hostages' doors to tell them they were free. The attackers walked across the compound, stole a van and fled to nearby Dammam, the official said. They then commandeered a car from a Saudi driver and drove off with the police in pursuit.
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The official said Saudi authorities at first had turned down the gunmen's request for safe passage. But then the militants started killing hostages, the official said. He said the Americans, who were in consultation with the Saudis, advised them to let the men go. An Oasis employee has relayed to reporters a similar account from a freed hostage who said security forces had allowed the attackers to flee because they were killing hostages.
http://www.iht.com/articles/523223.htmlSlightly different account of the escape than darker posted on earlier thread
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