NYT: Freed Captive Tells of Jidda Attack (contradicts State, Saudis)

[DeepModem Mom]

Freed Captive Tells of Ordeal in Attack on Consulate in Jidda
By NEIL MacFARQUHAR

Published: December 8, 2004


JIDDA, Saudi Arabia, Dec. 7 - One of eight men who were used as human shields during the armed assault against the American Consulate here said Tuesday from his hospital bed that the most vivid moment came when the gunman who was holding him captive and firing across his shoulder ordered him to raise his hands and scream, "God is great!"

The cry is one of the last things a good Muslim hopes to utter before dying, and Abdel Jabar Nirous, a 27-year-old supply clerk from Sri Lanka, was convinced that his life was at an end. He struggled to wrench himself away from the man before passing out.

When he regained consciousness, he said, "I saw my two friends lying dead in front of me and blood everywhere."

The description of what happened inside the compound contradicts statements made Monday by officials in the State Department and the Saudi Embassy in Washington that no hostages were taken during the attack....

***

The consulate's American employees were working in (the main chancery) building at the time of the attack and were taken to a secure area inside the building by marines. Security measures like magnetic doors, as well as gunfire from the marines, kept the gunmen from entering the building....


http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/08/international/middleeast/08saudi.html

[maddezmom]

1. AP-Victims Provide Details on Saudi Attack

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=540&ncid=736&e=1&u=/ap/20041208/ap_on_re_mi_ea/saudi_explosion

Not as much detail as the NYT

[Supersedeas]

2. collateral damage in the war on terra-errr--err-error, the truth