Britain sends special squad to protect Riyadh embassy

A 25-man SAS team has been sent to Saudi Arabia to bolster security at the British embassy and plan a possible mass evacuation of foreigners, defence sources said Tuesday night.

The squad is backed by many more special forces troopers in neighbouring Qatar. This force would be summoned if the 20,000 British citizens in Saudi had to be withdrawn in a hurry.

The members of the SAS team are counter-revolutionary warfare specialists and were deployed last week.

The larger SAS force has been given diplomatic clearance by the Saudi authorities to move straight into the country should any threat develop against the embassy, which is seen as a prime target for Saudi militants linked to Al Qaida.

The deployment is the clearest sign yet that Britain is extremely worried about the worsening security situation in Saudi Arabia, despite assurances from officials that they have the whip hand over home-grown militants.

"There is very serious nervousness about the situation in Saudi Arabia,'' one British official said.

The Ministry of Defence dismissed the suggestion that the SAS were protecting the British embassy but would not deny their presence in Saudi Arabia.

The SAS troops, armed with MP5 machineguns and Glock 17 pistols, wear civilian clothes. They have been given clearance by the Saudi authorities to shoot any attacker who tries to kidnap or ambush embassy staff.

They are working closely with Saudi special forces and have surveillance equipment and hi-tech sensors.

A room in the embassy has been turned into an operations room for the SAS team. Since arriving in Riyadh, the SAS team has been studying the types of target that Al Qaida has hit so far in an attempt to identify a pattern of operation.

Members of the team are working around the clock to ensure the safety of diplomatic staff and their families. They are shadowing British diplomats travelling outside the embassy compound and ensuring that routes used by embassy drivers are changed daily.

Contingency plans have already been drawn up to pull out British nationals if Al Qaida launches a big attack.

The SAS team will be responsible for putting them into practice.

© The Telegraph Group Limited, London 2004