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Source: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=521727
Saudi Royal Guards "Aided al-Qaeda" in Riyadh Bombings that Left 35 Dead
(Independent-UK) Mark Hollingsworth - Al-Qaeda terrorists whose suicide bombs killed 35 people and injured 200 at a housing compound in Riyadh last May were secretly assisted by members of the Saudi National Guard which protects the royal family, military trainers employed by the Vinnell Corporation have claimed. Some members of the Saudi National Guard knew about the bombing in advance and gave inside help to al-Qaeda, including possibly a detailed map of the target. An "exercise" organized by the National Guard removed 50 of 70 security staff for the day of the bombing, thus leaving the compound "defenseless." Lt.-Col. Raphael Maldonado, then a Vinnell instructor, points to the discovery of a detailed map in the car left behind by the assailants, and on the morning of the atrocity he noticed that none of his Saudi co-workers was present. "There is no doubt we were set up," he said. "Someone in the upper echelons of the Saudi National Guard knew the bombing was imminent."