T4 B9 Lief Fdr- Entire Contents- 11-27-95 Louise Lief Article- 1st Pg Scanned For Reference- Fair Use 643

Copyright 1995 U.S. News & World Report U.S. News & World Report View Related Topics November 27, 1995 SECTION: WORLD REPORT; Vol. 119 , No. 21; Pg. 43, 46 LENGTH: 1800 words HEADLINE: Telling friend from foe BYLINE: By Louise Lief; Brian Duffy; Richard Z. Chesnoff HIGHLIGHT: A bombing in Saudi Arabia raises questions about ties to terrorists BODY: At 11:40 a.m. last Monday, dozens of Americans sat eating lunch in a downtown Riyadh snack bar in a building that housed a U.S.-run military training center for the Saudi National Guard. Suddenly, a van packed with explosives erupted outside. Another explosion followed seconds later. When the dust settled, six people were dead and 60 injured, most of them Americans. For Saudi Arabia, the bombing marked the end of an era and the beginning of a new period of uncertainty. For decades, the insular desert kingdom had been largely spared the terrorist violence so common elsewhere in the Middle East. Making the bombing even more extraordinary was the fact that Americans were targeted. That was the first time in decades. To the proud and powerful House of Saud, the only surprise may have been that the attack had not come sooner. For years, the Saudi royal family and its religious establishment have played a dangerous double game. As a counterweight to its neighbors, Iraq and Iran, Riyadh has moved ever closer to the West, and especially to Washington, in the aftermath of the Persian Gulf war. At the same time, to placate a large Muslim fundamentalist constituency and buy peace at home, influential Saudi citizens have funneled tens of millions of dollars to Islamic extremists throughout the Middle East and Asia -- often over the objections of friendly Arab countries. According to U.S. intelligence authorities, some of the money has gone to support terrorist groups outside the Saudi kingdom. With last week's bomb attack, it may be that some of those chickens have now come home to roost.