American contractor slain in ambush

By Dave Montgomery
Knight Ridder Newspapers

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The slaying came just three days after suspected al-Qaida militants fired on a BBC Television crew in a south-central Riyadh neighborhood, killing the camera operator and gravely wounding a correspondent.

The strikes suggest that Saudi Arabia's terrorist network has shifted tactics, as operatives begin to target individuals. Pat Lang, a former Middle Eastern chief for the Defense Intelligence Agency, said in Washington that al-Qaida presumably considered the killing "an attack on a U.S. military target."

The victim was identified as Robert Jacobs, 62, of Murphysboro, Ill., a graphics designer for Virginia-based Vinnell, a Northrop Grumman subsidiary contracted by the U.S. Army to train the Saudi National Guard. Jacobs was the 13th American killed in a yearlong succession of terrorist attacks in Saudi Arabia.

Seven Vinnell employees were killed in a round of coordinated car bombings at three predominantly Western compounds May 12, 2003. Those attacks constituted the opening volley of what has become an al-Qaida campaign against Westerners and symbols of the royal family.

Authorities said Jacobs was shot outside his villa in the al Khalij district, northeast of downtown Riyadh.

Terrorism in Saudi Arabia has intensified in recent weeks, including a 25-hour-long rampage May 29-30 in Khobar. Twenty-two people, including an American, were killed before Saudi commandos stormed a luxury compound where terrorists were holding more than 50 hostages. Three of the militants escaped.

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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