Mohammed Rasooldeen, Special to Arab News

RIYADH, 22 February 2004 — US diplomats and their families who left the Kingdom two months ago for security reasons have been cleared to return.

“The directive, which will be carried out with immediate effect, will bring in families that left the Kingdom two months ago,” Robert Keith, press attaché at the US Embassy, told Arab News.

The families will start arriving from today, he said.

However, Keith said US citizens should be alert to security concerns and potential threats of terrorist attacks in the Kingdom. “American citizens should continue to evaluate their own security situations,” he said.

In a press statement, the embassy said the United States was confident that Saudi authorities were capable of protecting both citizens and foreign residents.

The lifting of restrictions comes against the backdrop of a continuing crackdown on terror suspects here following suicide bombings of residential compounds in Riyadh in May and November last year which killed 52 people.

The Kingdom has since arrested more than 200 terror suspects and unearthed large caches of weapons from all over the country.

Last week, Riyadh residents were alerted against a GMC Suburban car registered in the name of a wanted militant and alleged to be rigged with explosives which could be triggered in an attack.