Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd Bin Abdul Aziz last night telephoned U.S. President Bill Clinton to condemn the terrorist attack on a residential building in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, and to express condolences for the Americans who were killed in the incident. King Fahd said that he and the people of Saudi Arabia share the pain of the families of the victims of the explosion, who had been exposed to a terror rejected and condemned by all religious faiths, which do not condone such behavior no matter what the reasons or so-called justifications may be.

For his part, President Clinton thanked King Fahd for his condolences. Commending the deep-rooted ties and binding friendship between the Kingdom and the United States, he further expressed appreciation for the efficiency with which the Saudi authorities have dealt with the terrorist attack, saying: "We're grateful for the professionalism shown by the Saudi authorities in their reaction to this emergency". President Clinton condemned terrorism and described the perpetrators of the criminal act as cowards "who must not go unpunished".

An official source at the Ministry of the Interior reports that the powerful car bomb explosion occurred in the town of Al-Khobar [near Dhahran] in the Eastern Province just after 10:30 p.m. local time on Tuesday evening, June 25, in front of a building belonging to the Ministry of Defense and Aviation, where foreigners have housing. The latest toll places the number of fatalities at 19, all of them American nationals, and the injured victims at 386, comprising 147 Saudis, 118 Bangladeshis, 109 Americans, 4 Egyptians, 2 Jordanians, 2 Indonesians and 2 Filipinos.

Security authorities have launched intensive efforts to find the perpetrators, and the Ministry of the Interior has announced a SR 10 million (U.S. $ 2.7 million) reward for information leading to the arrest of any person who planned, perpetrated or assisted in last night's criminal explosion.

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