Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, a sister publication of Arab News, Al-Jaber, a prominent Saudi businessman, said the security measures were taken at the request of the Ministry of Defense and the American companies McDonnell-Douglas and Boeing. More than 34 people, including seven Saudis and seven Americans, were killed and nearly 200 others injured in the blasts which targeted three residential compounds housing Americans and other Westerners. The attacks also resulted in the deaths of three security guards — two from Jadawil and one from the armed forces. Saudi security authorities have launched a massive hunt for the perpetrators of the bombings and Crown Prince Abdullah said the government would not show any mercy toward the criminals or their supporters.

The Jadawil Housing Complex in the Ishbilya district of Riyadh was built at a cost of SR1.58 billion ($420 million), Al-Jaber said, adding that it took six years to complete. There is a similar housing complex for the company in the Eastern Province. There are 408 villas in the Riyadh complex and 537 in the Eastern Province.

“The Riyadh complex was designed to resist natural calamities as well as terrorist attacks,” he said. The high-quality construction work also helped in to reduce human and material losses, he pointed out. “Although the bombings took place close to the compound, our villas stood intact and were not destroyed,” he said.

Al-Jaber, whose company has invested SR3.56 billion ($950 million) in five residential complexes, said terrorist threats against such compounds would not deter his company from investing in the sector. He said none of the 600 residents — including 25 American Muslims — in Jadawil villas left after the attacks. “Some of them embraced Islam while staying in the complex,” he pointed out.