Saudi Arabia awards death to 3 men for 2003 terror attack

A Saudi Arabian court on Friday sentenced three men to death and jailed two others for up to 17 years for taking part in a series of militant attacks, including the bombing of a foreign housing compound in 2003.

Reports from the Gulf kingdom said a man identified by the court as "suspect number one" was convicted of involvement in the bombing of the al-Muhaya compound, an enclave of expatriates in the capital Riyadh.

This was perhaps the latest of a series of al-Qaida attacks in Saudi Arabia. The country earlier faced militant insurgency from 2003 to 2006, in which al-Qaida targeted residential compounds for foreign workers and Saudi government facilities.

In the 2003 attack, suspected al-Qaida suicide bombers posing as Saudi police blew up their explosives-laden car in a Riyadh compound housing mostly Arab foreigners, killing 11 people and wounding 122, including 36 children.

The charges in the case also included membership in the al-Qaida-linked cell, firing on policemen, loading cars with explosives to use in "terrorist" attacks and possessing weapons, including rocket-propelled grenades and SAM-7 rockets, SPA reported late on Thursday.

Although convicted, one of the two men sentenced to a prison term will be released after serving time behind bars pending the trial, due to health considerations.