Troops in Saudi Arabia jolted from bed by hoax bomb threat
June 28, 1996
Web posted at: 7:40 a.m. EDT (1140 GMT)DHAHRAN, Saudi Arabia (CNN) -- A telephone bomb threat Friday morning jolted U.S. troops from their beds in the military residential complex hit by a truck bomb earlier this week, but the threat turned out to be a hoax.
"The base did receive a threat this morning at a quarter to five (0145 GMT)," said Air Force Capt. Scott Vadnais. "It was investigated by the appropriate Saudi authorities and determined to be a hoax."
Troops stationed at the base were awakened by loudspeaker, Vadnais said, telling them to move to safer areas -- "anywhere you can put a concrete wall between you and the outside."
The troops remained on alert for nearly two hours while the threat was investigated.
Truck crankshaft found
Two days after Tuesday's devastating truck bomb killed 19 American servicemen, investigators uncovered what could be the first major clue in the case.
Crews found what they say is the crankshaft of the truck that exploded outside the apartment buildings on the northern fence of the Khobar Towers complex at King Abdul Aziz Air Base in Al Khobar, a city near Dhahran.
Truck parts provided important clues in both the World Trade Center bombing of 1993 and the Oklahoma City bombing of 1995.
In the case of the World Trade Center bombing, investigators found the vehicle identification number on part of the frame of the charred rental van that carried the bomb. That led investigators to the van's rental agent in Jersey City, New Jersey, and later helped them zero in on the perpetrators.
Pentagon responds to critics
Military officials spent the better part of the day Thursday trying to explain why they were not better prepared for the attack.
Pentagon officials were defensive in the face of criticism that the security fence around the housing complex was too close to protect those living inside.Army Gen. John Shalikashvili, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the security measures that failed to prevent the truck-bomb blast were "reasonable."
"I don't think the solution is simply to push the barriers further and further out, because you can build a bigger and bigger bomb," Shalikashvili said.
U.S. commanders expressed surprise that terrorists would use so powerful a truck bomb, despite the fact that a bomb of similar size was used in the United States last year to bring down the federal building in Oklahoma City.
A pledge to improve security
The nation's top general pledged that the U.S. military will improve protection of its troops abroad from terrorist attack, but Shalikashvili gave no details.
Defense Secretary William Perry is scheduled to arrive in Dhahran Saturday to discuss security improvements with U.S. commanders and reaffirm the U.S. commitment to protecting Saudi Arabia.
Pentagon officials say new security plans will take into account what is being called a new dimension in terrorist attacks.
"We must be as clever as we can be to find perhaps different things that we can do to protect the safety for our men and women - - that they deserve," Shalikashvili said.
Bodies arrive
The bodies of the Americans killed in the blast were flown back to the United States Thursday. Some 40 of the injured are being moved to U.S. military hospitals in Germany.
The dead, flown home on a C-5 military transport from Saudi Arabia, will be honored at memorial services Sunday in Florida at Eglin Air Force in Fort Walton Beach and Patrick Air Force Base in Cocoa Beach.
President Clinton will cut short his European summit trip to attend the services at Eglin, where a happy homecoming ceremony had originally been scheduled this weekend for troops stationed in Saudi Arabia.
Related stories:
- Bodies of dead servicemen arrive home - June 27, 1996
- General defends safeguards at Saudi complex - June 27, 1996
- Christopher tours Saudi bomb wreckage - June 26, 1996
- Partial list of Americans killed in the blast - June 26, 1996
- Massive bomb rocks U.S. military complex - June 25, 1996
- President Clinton's remarks - June 25, 1996
- November attack in Saudi Arabia - November 13, 1995
Related sites:
- Dover Air Force Base
- Air Force News Service
- U.S. Air Force in Europe
- Patrick Air Force Base
- Eglin Air Force Base
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