Islamic militants killed up to nine people during an attack on the US consluate in Jeddah today after storming the compound with explosives and holding hostages at gunpoint.

Saudi security forces ended the siege after killing three of the attackers and arresting two others in a two-hour gunbattle. Four members of the security forces were also reportedly killed, although the authorities have denied this.

It was the first strike by Saudi militants on a Western diplomatic mission and seemed a clear sign that the Saudi Government's crackdown on al-Qaeda-linked extremists has not yet succeeded.

The attackers hid behind an embassy car that was entering the consulate through the gate and then lobbed hand grenades at guards.

After getting inside the compound's outer security wall, the militants took about 18 people hostages at gunpoint, mostly people applying for visas.

The attackers then called a local Saudi police station and threatened to begin killing the hostages, but security forces stormed the area and fought a short gunbattle

Five employees of the consulate were killed and although their nationalities were not given they were described as "third-country expatriates", implying that they were not US or Saudi.

One of the hostages, Muaffa Jilan Ibrahim, a Yemeni maintenance worker, described how the gunmen used them as human shields when Saudi forces raided the compound.

He told how the hostages were split into two groups and held for 90 minutes. Eight consulate staff who were injured in the attack were caught in crossfire.

No Americans were killed or held hostage, and just one was slightly injured as consulate employees rushed to a safe area inside the consulate compound as the attack began, a State Department official said.

"We could hear the gunshots outside, but we didn't know what was going on," said one consulate employee. "They were heavy at times and not so heavy at other times." The US Embassy in Riyadh and the consulate in Dhahran were closed to the public as a precaution today.

The consulate has been heavily fortified and guarded since last year's series of bombings against targets housing foreigners. Guard posts are located on the corners of the compound and a road open to civilian traffic runs along part of the wall.

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