Saudi court sentences to death US consulate assailant

A Saudi court on Monday sentenced to death an al-Qaida member convicted of a 2004 attack on the U.S. consulate in Jeddah, in which five people were killed. The special security tribunal sentenced 19 others to up to 25 years in jail over various charges, including supporting the attack on the U.S. mission and plotting other "terrorist attacks," SPA state news agency said. The man sentenced to death, whose identity was not revealed, was convicted of "being part of a group that committed terrorist attacks in the country, including the storming of the U.S. consulate," it said. He confessed to taking part in the attack without showing any remorse, according to SPA. The attack on December 6, 2004 -- in which gunmen opened fire and lobbed explosives at the compound -- killed five non-U.S. staff, including four guards. Three of the attackers were killed when security forces swept in. A wave of deadly al-Qaida attacks in the kingdom between 2003 and 2006 prompted authorities to launch a crackdown on the local branch of the group founded by Saudi-born Osama bin Laden, who was killed in a U.S. commando operation in May 2011.