Saudi court orders death sentence over U.S. Consulate assault

PanARMENIAN.Net - A Saudi court has sentenced a man to death and 19 others to prison terms of up to 25 years in connection with the 2004 armed assault on the U.S. Consulate in Jiddah that killed five employees in an attack blamed on al-Qaeda.

According to AP, the official Saudi Press Agency said another 35 suspects linked to the consulate storming will face court hearings this week. The report late Sunday, Nov 24, gave no further details on the alleged attacker sentenced to death or when the execution could be carried out.

The attack on the heavily guarded compound came amid a series of attacks by al-Qaeda-linked militants in response to crackdowns across Saudi Arabia. Gunmen killed five locally hired consulate workers, and four attackers were fatally wounded in the three-hour battle.