US urges Americans to leave Saudi Arabia

The United States renewed its call on Thursday for Americans to leave Saudi Arabia after a spateof terrorist attacks on Westerners in the gulf country.

Following an Al-Qaeda threat to kill a kidnapped American in Saudi Arabia, the State Department advised US citizens to defer travel to Saudi Arabia and "strongly urged" private citizens to depart the country.

Attacks on foreigners witnessed in June include the weekend kidnapping of US engineer Paul Johnson, the first Westerner to be taken hostage in the kingdom since a wave of suicide bombings and shooting attacks against Westerners began more than a year ago.

The kidnappers have threatened to kill Johnson on Friday unlessthe Saudi government releases their jailed colleagues.

Robert Jacobs, who worked for US defense contractor Vinnell, and Simon Cumbers, an Irish cameraman working for the BBC, were killed by unknown assailants on June 6-8, while another British Frank Gardner was seriously wounded.

About six million foreigners were estimatedly working in Saudi Arabia, including roughly 35,000 Americans and 30,000 Britons.

However, it is unclear how many have left since the increase interrorist attacks.

Source: Xinhua