13 DEAD IN SAUDI ARABIA ATTACKS; AL QAEDA SUSPECTED

"Attackers shot their way into three housing compounds in the Saudi capital, (and) then set off suicide car bombs, killing at least 13 foreigners," the Associated Press reports. "Secretary of State Colin Powell said the coordinated terror strikes had 'the earmarks of al Qaeda.'"
10 Americans are among the dead, and overall casualties are in the hundreds, according to the wire service.
The gated communities attacked Monday were all in the neighborhood where Saudi officials seized on Thursday "a huge arms cache including 800 pounds of advanced explosives along with hand grenades, assault rifles, ammunition, disguises and tens of thousands of dollars," the New York Times says.
Those munitions supposedly belonged to al Qaeda, according to CNN. The "simultaneity of the explosions" -- an al Qaeda hallmark -- also leads American officials to believe that Osama bin Laden's group is behind the strikes.
"Last week, the Saudi government issued an all-points bulletin for 19 men -- 17 of whom are Saudi citizens -- on suspicion of planning attacks," CNN reports. "The suspects had fled after a shootout with security forces in Riyadh last Tuesday, according to police."
Jeremy Binnie, an editor at Jane's Sentinel Security Assessments, says, "While the attack could be an isolated incident, it was probably intended as the opening shot in a sustained campaign against Western interests in Saudi Arabia."
THERE'S MORE: According to the Associated Press, "An al-Qaida commander warned that the terror network was about to carry out major attacks in Saudi Arabia in an e-mail just a day before the deadly assault in the Saudi capital."