Riyadh, Saudi Arabia ? Residents of the mainly Arab residential compound attacked by suspected al-Qaida suicide bombers said Wednesday they knew their Westernized lifestyle was under scrutiny — they’d received a surprise visit from Saudi religious police suspicious that men and women were mixing at a party.

The choice of target in the attack, which killed 17 people, mostly Arabs and Muslims, has baffled many in the region — and indicates al-Qaida’s rage may be directed as much at Muslims seen as having slipped from the religion’s true path as at Western “infidels.”

Saudi and U.S. officials have blamed Saturday’s attack on Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida, the militant Muslim terror network blamed for the Sept. 11 attacks.

On Tuesday, a purported al-Qaida operative claimed responsibility for Saturday’s bombing, saying in an e-mail that al-Qaida believed “working with Americans and mixing with them” was forbidden.

The Muhaya compound had a coffee shop where residents of both sexes, mostly foreigners, chatted over water pipes and watched foreign movies and other entertainment on a big-screen television. It was next to a pool where women swam in bikinis.

Agents of the Saudi religious police — the Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice — roam Saudi streets and shopping malls berating or even manhandling those who violate the social code.

Seven religious police officers visited the Muhaya compound three months ago, saying they had reports of an “un-Islamic” party being held there, residents told The Associated Press on Wednesday.