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Us knew attack was likely Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)    http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/nation/7226251.htm http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/nation/7226251.htm Posted on Mon, Nov. 10, 2003 U.S. knew Saudi attack was likely By James Risen The New York Times WASHINGTON - Days before the bombing in Saudi Arabia that killed at least 17 people, U.S. intelligence agencies were warned that an al Qaeda attack was imminent, but the warnings did not come with enough details to prevent the blast, officials said Sunday. The information, which came from several sources, prompted the closing of the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, but it did not include specifics about the time or location of an attack, officials said. It did lead U.S. officials to conclude that al Qaeda cells were planning to go after "soft" targets "very soon," one official said. Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said Sunday that intelligence officials told the panel about a week ago that an attack in Saudi Arabia appeared likely. The suicide bomb attack on Saturday blasted through a residential compound for foreigners in Riyadh. The attackers shot their way into the compound and then set off a car bomb. The attack seemed similar to others staged near foreign compounds in Riyadh on May 12. Officials have blamed al Qaeda for those as well. Although the warnings were not detailed, they indicate that the CIA and other U.S. intelligence agencies are receiving fairly accurate advance information about the activities of al Qaeda operatives inside Saudi Arabia. "There was intelligence suggesting that operational activity was moving ahead," a U.S. official said. Another official said, "It wasn't just a single thread of information but a lot of things that were pointing in one direction." Some of the information might have originated with the Saudi government, the official said, but there were other sources. "There probably was some information that was Saudi-driven," the official said, "but it was much broader than that."

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