Saudi policemen inspect the devastated Al-Hamra expatriate housing compound

RIYADH, May 16 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - A 60-strong team of Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) officers has arrived in Saudi Arabia amid a fresh terror warning and U.S. demands the kingdom step up efforts to combat terrorism, in the wake of the Riyadh suicide bombings.

"They arrived late last night," said John Burgess, counselor for public affairs at the U.S. embassy in the Saudi capital.

"There are approximately 60 (in the team). They will be involved in the investigation into the bombings in coordination with the Saudi authorities," Burgess told Agence France-Presse (AFP), denying that the team included any CIA intelligence operatives.

The team's stay in the kingdom is "open ended," he added.

A British police team also arrived in Saudi Arabia Thursday, May 15, while Australia announced it too was sending police officers to help with the investigation into Monday night's attacks on expatriate residential compounds blamed on the al-Qaeda terror network of Saudi-born Osama bin Laden.

Those strikes left at least 25 dead, including eight U.S. citizens, along with nine bombers, and some 194 injured, according to a Saudi interior ministry toll.

The attacks prompted the State Department on Tuesday, May 13, to order the departure of its non-essential diplomats from Saudi Arabia.

New Warning

The arrival of the FBI team coincided with a State Department warning that Washington had received information about a terrorist threat against a specific neighborhood in the western Saudi city of Jeddah.

"The U.S. consulate general in Jeddah has received an unconfirmed report that a possible terrorist attack in the Al-Hamra district of Jeddah may occur in the near future," warned the consulate in the Red Sea city of Jeddah.

"While we cannot certify the credibility of the threat, in light of recent events this information is being shared with the American community," it said in a notice to Americans in the city.

"Some consulate families resident in the Al-Hamra district have elected to move to different quarters," it said.

The latest alert comes as U.S. officials have expressed displeasure with Saudi Arabia's response to increasingly dire warnings beginning at the end of last month that terrorists were "in the final phases" of plotting anti-American attacks in the country.

Washington has complained that the Riyadh did not do enough to tighten security at possible targets, including the housing compounds struck in Monday's attacks, one of which was also named Al-Hamra.

"Saudi Arabia has provided good cooperation with us on the war on terrorism, but there is more that can be done," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Thursday.

“We Expect Full Cooperation”

McClellan's comments came a day after Washington's ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Robert Jordan, charged that the kingdom had been unresponsive to specific U.S. requests to step up protection at the expatriate housing complexes targeted in Monday's attacks.

"We expect full cooperation," McClellan added of the FBI team dispatched to the kingdom. "I think all indications are from the FBI assessment team is that Saudi Arabia is cooperating."

One FBI official said earlier that there was "definitely some sensitivity" to an FBI presence in the country "and we have to respect that."

At the same time, however, U.S. officials have stressed that Saudi Arabia remains an ally in the war on terror and have sought to avoid harsh criticism of the kingdom's apparent failure to take necessary precautions.

The Saudi government has vowed to clamp down on terrorism after Monday's bombings which it says were carried out by 15 Saudis, but has acknowledged security lapses.

Riyadh announced on May 7 it had uncovered an al-Qaeda cell planning to carry out major attacks in the kingdom and that security forces were hunting 17 Saudis, one Kuwaiti-Canadian of Iraqi origin and a Yemeni. A huge weapons cache was found.

Saudi Arabia is bin Laden's birthplace and the homeland of 15 of the 19 al-Qaeda hijackers who carried out the September 11, 2001 terror attacks on the United States.