Saudi oil forces get US training

DUBAI: US defense giant Lockheed Martin is training thousands of recruits for a special force designed to protect Saudi Arabia’s oil facilities from attack, a specialist economic newsletter said yesterday. Saudi authorities have recruited around 5,000 members of the Facilities Security Force and plan to raise the number to 8,000-10,000 over the next two years as an interim target, the Nicosia-based Middle East Economic Survey said.

The plan to set up a 35,000-strong force to guard oil and other vital installations was announced in July by Interior Minister Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz as the oil powerhouse continues to battle suspected Al-Qaeda militants. In February 2006, militants carried out an abortive attack on a massive oil processing plant in the Eastern Province. Nayef said that Saudi Arabia had foiled 180 “terrorist” operations by Al-Qaeda since 2003, when the Islamist militants launched a spate of bombings and shootings in t
he vast Gulf country.
In April, the interior ministry said 172 terror suspects had been rounded up, along with weapons and cash, in a series of swoops. Some of the militants were allegedly plotting airborne attacks on oil facilities and army bases. Although Saudi Arabia, the OPEC kingpin and the world’s top oil producer, has been reluctant to spell out the cost of the security project, the bill is expected to run into billions of dollars, MEES said.

The decision to recruit from outside the ranks of the existing armed forces and security services has necessarily slowed the process, and several years are likely to elapse until the new force is fully capable, it said. “The force is being equipped and trained by Lockheed in the use of state-of-the art defence technology including laser security and satellite imaging to help protect installations and the kingdom’s extensive oil and gas pipeline network,” the newsletter said.

Kuwait Times