Saudi Caller Claimed Responsibility for Oklahoma City Bombing; Ruled A Crank

By J.M. Berger
INTELWIRE.com

A woman called a U.S.-affiliated military official in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to claim responsibility for the Oklahoma City bombing, according to a newly released State Department cable.

The call was received by a captain in the Joint Task Force-Southwest Asia, a multinational force consisting of U.S., U.K., French and Saudi troops stationed in Saudi Arabia during the 1990s. The nationality of the captain was not specified in the document.

The call came around noon local time, on April 22, 1995. The caller claimed "she had been brainwashed by the FBI" and that she had blown up the Alfred E. Murrah federal building in Oklahoma City as an act of revenge.

The officer attempted to keep the woman on the line while other task force personnel tried to trace the call. The woman, who identified herself as "Jackie in the Box," told the officer she had flown into Oklahoma City from Texas in order to carry out the bombing.

When asked to provide a phone number, the caller said it was "6969" and proceeded to tell the male officer "how nice" his voice was and began "making no sense," at which point the task force official hung up on her before a trace could be confirmed.

The woman called back and asked why the officer hung up on her. He blamed "the phones system and the weather." The woman hung up before a second trace attempt could be completed.

"Caller seemed to be a crank," the writer of the cable determined. Information was passed to Saudi police. It was unclear whether U.S. officials conducted any further followup or successfully traced the call.

The cable was obtained by INTELWIRE using the Freedom of Information Act.

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