Historical Dictionary of Terrorism Third Edition

606 • RODRIGO FRANCO COMMANDattacked the U.S. embassy in Riyadh and the U.S. consulate in Jeddahduring the June 1967 Arab-Israeli war.On 22 April 1996 four Saudi nationals confessed on television tothe bombing and stated that they had undergone training in Afghanistanand had been prepared to carry out similar actions to force U.S.troops out of the Arabian Peninsula. All were executed by beheadingon 30 May 1996. U.S. authorities came to suspect that these militantswere connected with Osama bin Laden and his al Qa’eda network.On 12 May 2003 three car bombs were deployed in a suicideattack, one against the Dorrat Al Jadawel compound housing a subsidiaryof the British firm MBI International and two others againstthe Al Hamra Oasis Village and the Vinnell Corporation, whichwas a Virginia-based U.S. contractor involved in training the SaudiNational Guard. Attackers at the Jadawel compound exchanged firewith Saudi guards, leading to the detonation of the car bomb outsidethe gates of the compound, while the other two car bombs were ableto enter the Al Hamra Oasis Village before being detonated. All 12attackers were killed. A total of 35 people died as a result of theseattacks, eight of whom were Americans, while more than 160 otherswere injured. Al Qa’eda claimed credit for this attack. Four dayslater, similar attacks occurred in Casablanca, Morocco, also claimedby al Qa’eda. On 7 June 2003 the Saudi Interior Ministry named 12Saudi men as being the perpetrators; these charges were based supposedlyon DNA evidence collected at the scene of the bombings.The 8 November 2003 suicide truck bombing of the MuhayaComplex in Riyadh killed 18 people and injured 122. In this case,all of those killed were Arab contract workers mainly from Egyptand Lebanon. This attack alienated many Muslims from support ofal Qa’eda since those killed were mainly fellow Muslims. See alsoKHOBAR TOWERS BOMBING.RODRIGO FRANCO COMMAND. The Rodrigo Franco Commandwas a Peruvian death squad linked to the right wing of the AmericanPopular Revolutionary Alliance (APRA) party. The Commandemerged after 1987, when the Aprista politician Rodrigo FrancoMontes was murdered by Sendero Luminoso, and was originally intendedfor use against Senderistas. The scope of its attacks broadenedto include a defense attorney representing Senderistas, murdered on28 July 1988, and eventually included even conservative critics of