Security
Most of the victims were non-Saudi Arabs |
has been stepped up in the Saudi capital Riyadh following Saturday night's suicide attack.
At least 17 people died when bombers attacked a residential compound housing mainly Arab foreign workers.
Western embassies and residential compounds are now adding to their defences against a similar attack.
The United States embassy remains closed to the public and diplomats say it is likely to stay shut until Wednesday at the earliest.
The embassy, which stands in a diplomatic quarter guarded by a military checkpoint, closed on Saturday after Washington warned that militants were planning imminent attacks.
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VIOLENT WEEK IN THE KINGDOM
3 Nov: Police kill two 'militants' in Mecca, capture six
6 Nov: Two al-Qaeda suspects blow themselves up in Mecca in shoot-out with police
6 Nov: Riyadh police shoot dead third suspect from Mecca
8 Nov: US diplomatic missions closed amid "terrorist threat"
9 Nov: Compound attacked
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Many Western countries have renewed warnings to their nationals not to travel to Saudi Arabia, urging those already there to keep a low profile.
Future attacks?
The US Deputy Secretary of State, Richard Armitage, flew into Riyadh to meet the country's leadership in the wake of the attack.
He echoed Saudi ministers' comments by saying that he believed Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda organisation was behind the attack.
He said it was clear that al-Qaeda wanted to bring down the royal family and the government of Saudi Arabia.
And he expressed Washington's determination to work more closely with the Saudi authorities to fight terrorism.
"I can't say that last night's attack was the only or the last attack," he told reporters.
"My view is these al-Qaeda terrorists - and I believe it was al Qaeda - would prefer to have many such events."
Anger
Armitage: "Al Qaeda would prefer to have many such events" |
The compound attacked on Saturday was close to the homes of several Saudi ministers.
More than 120 people were injured, most of them non-Saudi Arab workers and their families.
The BBC's Paul Wood, from the scene of the blasts, says the bombers penetrated far into the compound before detonating their explosives.
Buildings of several storeys high were reduced to rubble, he adds.
There is anger in Riyadh over the attack on the compound, which killed mainly Arabs and occurred during the holy month of Ramadan.
Saudi officials said seven Lebanese, four Egyptians, one Saudi, one Sudanese and four unidentified people had been killed. The dead included five children.
Our correspondent says such an attack is likely to alienate potential supporters of the militants.
Saudi officials have said the attack was similar to the attack on a Western compound in Riyadh in May which left dozens dead.
Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef Bin Abdul Aziz said the authorities would track down the perpetrators of the crime "who claim to be Muslim".
Mediation
The US has put pressure on Saudi Arabia to act against al-Qaeda since the 11 September attacks on New York and Washington which were carried out mainly by Saudi nationals.
Hundreds of people have been arrested by the Saudi authorities over the past six months.
Some clerics have begun mediation efforts to try to open talks between the militants and the government.
The effort is led by Dr Mohsen al-Awaji, spokesman for an organisation called the Global Anti-Aggression Campaign.
