14 indicted in 1996 bombing of military housing

By Jonathan D. Salant

Associated Press

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Thirteen Saudis and one Lebanese were indicted today in the 1996 bombing that killed 19 American servicemen in Saudi Arabia.

A 46-count, 29-page indictment handed up by a federal grand jury charged the defendants, under the direction of Iranian officials, conspired to kill U.S. nationals.

“This indictment serves to underscore the commitment of the Bush administration and the Justice Department to bringing terrorists to account,” Attorney General John Ashcroft said.

“Americans are a high-priority target for terrorists and our nation will vigorously fight to preserve justice for our citizens both here at home as well as abroad.”

Some of the 14 are in custody in various countries. Officials declined to be specific.

The indictment charges that as early as 1993 members of Saudi Hezbollah began extensive surveillance in search of a U.S. target, settling two years later on the American military housing high-rise near Dhahran.

Most of the Saudis indicted are young male members of the Shiite branch of Islam who lived in the eastern province of Saudi Arabia near the Persian Gulf.

The indictment said they were trained in Lebanon in Hezbollah-controlled areas and also in Iran.

Ashcroft said the United States is charging that certain unspecified Iranian figures “inspired, supported and supervised” the activities of the terrorists.

But he said the indictment did not name any Iranians, although the investigation continues. The attorney general suggested that U.S. authorities do not yet have sufficient evidence to indict Iranians.

But he did say he was gratified that the Justice Department and FBI were able to obtain the indictment nearly five years after the Khobar Towers bombing.

“For the victims and for their families, the indictment filed today means that next week’s five-year anniversary of this tragedy will come with some assurance to victim family members and to the wounded that they are not and will not be forgotten,” Ashcroft said.

President Bush spoke by phone today with Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah to thank him for Saudi Arabia’s cooperation in the investigation, said White House spokeswoman Mary Ellen Countryman. Bush issued a statement praising both the Justice Department and the Saudis for their work, saying more people might be charged in the case.

Bush also offered personal assurances to bombing survivors and families of the dead. “Your government will not forget your loss, and will continue working, based on the evidence, to make sure that justice is done,” Bush said.

Those with loved ones among the dead welcomed the latest development in the case.

“It’s (been) five years of pure hell, with or without indictments, that part doesn’t change,” said Fran Heiser, of Palm Coast, Fla., who lost her only child, Michael, a 35-year-old Air Force master sergeant, in the bombing. “It’s nice to see this coming to a head.”

In response to the Khobar Towers attack, the United States moved its Air Force contingent in Saudi Arabia to Prince Sultan Air Base, a vast compound in a remote stretch of desert south of Riyadh that provided much stricter security for the U.S. troops. Those U.S. forces, which remain at Prince Sultan Air Base, fly missions over southern Iraq to enforce a “no fly” zone.

The FBI said the investigation into the blast moved slowly in part because the Saudi government restricted the agency’s access to witnesses and other evidence. Eventually, FBI agents were allowed to formulate questions and watch as Saudi authorities posed 212 questions to eight suspects.

Saudi Arabia has yet to disclose its findings in an investigation it carried out jointly with the FBI.

A recent State Department report on terrorism referred to Hezbollah, the pro-Iranian group that led the guerrilla war against Israel’s occupation of south Lebanon, as a radical Shiite Muslim group that is “strongly anti-West and anti-Israel.”