Maybe so, but there was organization behind this, probably al-Qaeda and Iran.
Bruce Qatar blames Egyptian for theater blast By JABER AL-HARMI Associated Press Writer Arizona Republic March 20, 2005 DOHA, Qatar (AP) -- Qatar on Sunday blamed an Egyptian for a suicide car bomb attack on a Doha theater that killed one Briton, days after an al-Qaida leader purportedly called for attacks on Western interests in the Gulf region as Iraq marks the second anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion. After Saturday's blast, the largely European audience reportedly streamed out of the hall in the midst of the performance, a rendition of Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night." The ministry identified the bomber as Omar Ahmed Abdullah Ali, an Egyptian, who also owned the car that exploded outside the Doha Players Theater during a Saturday night performance, killing one person and injuring 12 others. The bombing occurred on the second anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion in Iraq, although it was unclear if the two events were linked. Saleh al-Aoofi, who purportedly heads al-Qaida in the Gulf region, urged militants this week to attack Westerners in Qatar and several other countries. Nobody claimed responsibility for the attack on the theater, which is popular with Westerners and close to the Doha English Speaking School in the northern suburb of Farek Kelab. The British Foreign Office confirmed a British citizen had died and said British authorities were assisting Qatar in the bombing investigation. Ten of 12 people injured have been released from hospital. Americans were among the large number of foreigners in the theater audience, but none were believed to have been injured, U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Patricia Kabra said. The American school and several other international schools in Doha closed on Sunday, a regular working day in the Gulf, awaiting news of the investigation, Kabra said. Americans are being told to "exercise security awareness" and check with their children's schools to learn when they will reopen. Energy-rich Qatar is a close ally of the United States in the Gulf. The country is home to the U.S. Central Command's forward operations in the Middle East. The Interior Ministry said the explosion "was the result of a criminal operation carried out" by Ali. In Cairo, an Egyptian official said on condition of anonymity that he authorities from his country were contacting their embassy in Doha seeking further details following the claim. French President Jacques Chirac condemned the "vile terrorist attack" and sent a team of experts to Doha to help with the investigation, according to a letter sent to Qatar's emir, Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani. Qatar's official news agency said the country's leader had received telephone calls from the leaders of Kuwait, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates to condemn the attack. The bombing in Qatar, a small, usually quiet country with tight security, indicates that terror attacks appear to be spreading in the Gulf region where people are angered by U.S. support for Israel and the U.S.-British invasion of Iraq. "The notion that the Persian Gulf is a region open to terrorist attacks is now taking hold, not only in Iraq, but in the countries that used to be peaceful," said Youssef M. Ibrahim, an oil and political risk analyst who heads Dubai-based Strategic Energy Investment Group. The site of the attack remained cordoned off as investigators searched for clues. "I saw people lying on the ground. I think they were in shock because of the explosion. They were mostly foreigners," said Ahmed Goudah, a witness who spoke from the scene, which was littered with dozens of smashed cars. U.S. Army Capt. Eric Clark, who is based in Qatar, said he spoke with a woman who was performing in a performance of Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night" when a blast shook the hall. "She heard a massive explosion and there was mass chaos and people just exited the building," Clark said by telephone. Earlier, Gen. Ahmed Al-Hariki of the Interior Ministry told Al-Jazeera that the blast occurred at a restaurant inside the theater, which is some six miles from the U.S. Embassy and some 10 miles from a U.S. military base. Al-Aoofi, a wanted Saudi terror suspect, called for attacks against Westerners in the Gulf, including Qatar, in an audiotape released Thursday. "To the brothers in Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, the Emirates and to all the lions of jihad in the countries neighboring Iraq, every one of us has to attack what is available in his country of soldiers, vehicles and air bases of the crusaders and the oil allocated for them," according to an exert of the tape carried in Sunday's the London-based Asharq al-Awsat newspaper. The last attack on a similar scale in Qatar, which has a population of around 800,000, occurred in February 2004 when a car bomb assassination of Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev, a rebel leader and former Chechen president who had lived in Qatar for several years. A Qatari court later convicted two Russian intelligence officers of the murder and sentenced them to 25 years in prison C 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our <http://apdigitalnews.com/privacy.html> Privacy Policy. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> DonorsChoose. A simple way to provide underprivileged children resources often lacking in public schools. 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