From this source:
Saudi authorities gave safe passage to three al-Qaida gunmen after the they killed 10 of the hostages they were holding at a hotel in the oil hub of Khobar, a senior security official said.
The Saudi official said upon hearing hostages had been killed, US officials advised the Saudis that letting the militants go would avert a bigger catastrophe.
The US embassy in Riyadh did not have immediate comment on the Saudi official’s account, which dovetailed with witness accounts.
Officially, the Saudi Interior Ministry has said the three used hostages as human shields to escape Saudi commandos on Sunday and a fourth attacker, said to be the ringleader, was captured.
The official said the three walked away at about 2:20 a.m. on Sunday, hours before 80 commandoes landed on the roof of the hotel by helicopter and began knocking on the hostages’ doors to tell them they were free to leave.
I thought the US was being tough on terrorist, what gives? Why would the US tell the Saudis to let them go?
Welcome to The Straight Dope Message Boards, All_That , glad to have you with us.
You only need to hit the SUBMIT button once. Sometimes, things run a little slow, but hitting the button more often than not just means you’ll double post.
In this case, I’m closing this copy. Interested parties should see US Tols Saudis to Let Al-Qaida Gunmen Escape