Al Qaeda will find oil targets tough to hit-analysts

DUBAI, Dec 7 (Reuters) – Al Qaeda will find it hard to deal a deadly blow to heavily-fortified oil facilities in Gulf states that supply a fifth of global energy needs, security experts and analysts said on Wednesday.

Al Qaeda deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahri urged militants to strike oil targets in an Internet video posted on Wednesday — echoing a similar call by Osama bin Laden who said in a December tape this would be the most powerful weapon against America.
Al Qaeda militants have over the past years bombed an oil tanker in Yemen, hit Iraq’s vital Basra Oil Terminal and killed foreigners in oil and petrochemical cities in Saudi Arabia.

But analysts said it was highly unlikely the group would be able to reach key oil infrastructure in top world exporter Saudi Arabia and other OPEC nations in the Gulf region.

Reuters