# US Told Saudis to Let Al-Qaida Gunmen Escape

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-told-saudis-to-let-al-qaida-gunmen-escape/248550>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [June 4, 2004, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-told-saudis-to-let-al-qaida-gunmen-escape/248550 "2004-06-04T01:04:38Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![All\_That\_And](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@All\_That\_And](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/All_That_And)\
**Post date:** [June 4, 2004, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-told-saudis-to-let-al-qaida-gunmen-escape/248550/1 "2004-06-04T01:04:38Z")

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From [this source:](http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3014134)

> [@](#):
>
> 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?

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**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\
**Post date:** [June 4, 2004, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-told-saudis-to-let-al-qaida-gunmen-escape/248550/2 "2004-06-04T02:54:36Z")

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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](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=259697)