Riyadh, Saudi Arabia ? Saudi Arabia acknowledged gaps in security and revealed Wednesday that 15 Saudis carried out the deadly car bomb attacks in Riyadh — a startling admission considering the Arab kingdom took five months to confirm most of the Sept. 11 suicide hijackers were Saudi.

Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal also said this week’s attacks, blamed on Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida terror network, were designed to drive away foreigners, but he insisted Saudi Arabia was safer now than before the car bombings.

Still, some foreigners went ahead with plans to leave after Monday night’s attacks, which targeted three residential compounds where expatriate executives and professionals live, killing 34 people — including nine attackers — and injuring nearly 200.

“I’m terrified and I’m really scared. I think we need a break from all of this,” said Tanya Scott, a 36-year-old Australian flight attendant.

The British School in Riyadh, located in one of the targeted compounds, closed and some teachers left. The U.S. Embassy was closed for security reasons Wednesday and the State Department ordered home nonessential diplomats and family members.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Philip T. Reeker put the U.S. toll at eight dead and 17 wounded — at least one critically.

Saudi Arabia relies greatly on its population of 6 million expatriate workers, including about 35,000 Americans and about 30,000 Britons, in its communications, power, technology, banking and other sectors. The kingdom counts on many U.S. experts for its oil industry.

Saudi officials, stung by criticism that they did too little to combat militancy ahead of the Sept. 11 attacks, have taken pains to show unusual openness and determination in the wake of Monday’s attacks.

Crown Prince Abdullah went on national television Tuesday, vowing to “put an end” to those behind the attacks.

Along with reassuring foreign business, the kingdom’s leadership is eager to see that the attacks do not strain ties with Washington, where some blame the kingdom’s strict version of Islam for breeding the likes of Saudi-born bin Laden and the Sept. 11 hijackers.

Later Wednesday in an interview with CNN, Prince Bandar said the Saudis would be relentless in tracking down the attackers, even though most of them were from the kingdom.

“We have lots of evidence that this group is from al-Qaida. And we are determined to fight them because they are against, not just Americans. They’re against Saudis, Arabs, Muslims. … We are going to go after them until we put an end to this evil cancer.”

The attacks came as the United States was withdrawing most of its 5,000 troops from Saudi Arabia, a presence bin Laden has used as a pretext for attacks. The al-Qaida leader contends the U.S. military presence in Saudi Arabia since the first Gulf War defiles holy soil because the country is guardian of Islam’s most sacred shrines at Mecca and Medina.

Warning ignored

U.S. Ambassador Robert Jordan said the United States sought in vain before Monday to get security tightened around Western residential compounds in Riyadh amid warnings of possible attacks.

“As soon as we learned of this particular threat information, we contacted the Saudi government,” Jordan said on CBS’ “The Early Show” Wednesday. “We continue to work with the Saudis on this, but they did not, as of the time of this tragic event, provide the additional security we requested.”

Prince Saud told reporters he had “not heard of this” but said the government has always fulfilled any requests by the American or other embassies for additional security.

However, he admitted there were security lapses, saying Saudis should “look within themselves and see whether we have done enough to preserve the security of our nation.”

Asked whether that was an admission of lapses in security, Saud said: “The fact that the terrorism happened is an indication of shortcomings and we have to learn from our mistakes and seek to improve our performance in this respect.”

Ties remain firm

Saud insisted the attacks would not hurt U.S.-Saudi ties, saying countries who are terror victims “feel sympathy for each other.”

He refused to give details on the 15 Saudis he said took part in the attacks or say what happened to the six who survived.

“Ironically it was 15 Saudis who did what they did in America and 15 Saudis who did what they did in Saudi Arabia,” said Saud. Of the Sept. 11 hijackers, 15 were Saudi and four were from other Arab countries.

“Certainly it goes to the heart of the argument that nobody could accuse us of being responsible for attacking our country,” he added.

The Saudi government has said the attacks are connected to 19 al-Qaida operatives who engaged in a gunfight with police in Riyadh on May 6 and escaped, though one later surrendered. Interior Minister Prince Nayef said the 19 are believed to take orders directly from bin Laden.

Besides the eight Americans, those killed Monday were seven Saudis, three Filipinos, two Jordanians, and one each from Australia, Britain, Ireland, Lebanon and Switzerland, according to the Interior Ministry.