US: The United States praised Saudi Arabia yesterday for "unprecedented" counterterrorism work spurred by deadly attacks last year in Riyadh.
In its annual Patterns of Global Terrorism report, the US State Department emphasised Saudi actions to crack down on al-Qaeda.
The assessment contrasted with tepid comments in the previous year's report that Saudi Arabia had "continued to provide support for the war on terror" and earlier private complaints by US officials that Riyadh was not doing enough.
Suicide bombers attacked residential compounds in Riyadh on May 12th and killed at least 35 people, including nine US citizens, and again on November 9th, killing 18 people.
"The terrorist attacks in Saudi Arabia . . . galvanised Riyadh into launching a sustained crackdown against al-Qaeda's presence in the kingdom and spurred an unprecedented level of co-operation with the United States," the report said. "Riyadh has aggressively attacked al-Qaeda's operational and support network in Saudi Arabia and detained or killed . . . prominent operatives and financial facilitators," it added.
The State Department report assesses "terrorism" around the world and lists seven nations - Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Sudan and Syria - as state sponsors of such violence.
Iraq is still cited despite the US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein last year because there is no new government in place to renounce terrorism formally.
Being on the list subjects the seven to sanctions, including a ban on US arms exports and restrictions on US economic aid.
The report said Saudi Arabia had arrested more than 600 people in counterterrorism operations since May.
- (Reuters)