WASHINGTON, Dec 6 (AFP) - US President George W. Bush said Monday that the attack on the US consulate in the Saudi port of Jeddah showed that "terrorists are still on the move" and thanked Saudi authorites for their response.
"The attacks in Saudi Arabia remind us that the terrorists are still on the move," Bush said. "They want us to leave Saudi Arabia, they want us to leave Iraq, they want us to grow timid and weary."
Speaking as he met wtih Iraq's interim President Ghazi al-Yawar in the Oval Office, Bush said the attack showed how important it was to hold Iraqi elections set for January 30 on schedule.
"A free society in Iraq will be a major defeat for the terrorists," said Bush.
Their comments came after gunmen suspected of links to Al-Qaeda stormed the US consulate in Jeddah on Monday, triggering a three-hour siege and a shootout that left three attackers and four guardsmen dead, police and officials said.
The brazen attack was the first of its kind on a diplomatic mission in Saudi Arabia but was the latest in a series of bombings and shootings blamed on Al-Qaeda in the oil-rich kingdom since May 2003.
"I want to thank the Saudi government for reacting as quickly as they did," said Bush.
12/06/2004 15:03 GMT - AFP