Michael Theodoulou of The Times explains why today's attack on the US consulate in Jeddah may not be a surprise in light of recent events, but is out of character for the laid-back commercial centre.

Is Jeddah considered a safe city?

None of the dozens of attacks since 1995 on Westerners in Saudi Arabia have taken place in Jeddah, until today. However, various arms caches have been discovered there, so an attack like today's was not unexpected. On November 27 in a clash in Jeddah, Saudi security forces shot dead Issam Qassem Mubaraki, who was suspected of planning a bombing.

Are the embassies well protected?

The surprise today is that they managed to get into a diplomatic mission. The US consulate was very heavily protected - concrete blocks to stop truck bombs, surveillance cameras, security guards - like a fortress. The four men today must have been prepared to die - they know how hard it is to get into the compound and that that it will be even harder to get out alive.

There will be questions about how these men got through the streets to get anywhere near to do this attack. But it shows the virtual impossibility of defending yourself against an enemy that's prepared to die.

Do ordinary Saudis support al-Qaeda?

There has been little local support for the militants inside the kingdom, and what there was evaporated in November 2003 when suicide bombers in a Riyadh residential compound killed Saudis as well as foreigners.

The Saudi authorities last year published a list of the 26 most wanted al-Qaeda men and since then have killed all but eight of them. Hours after the murder of the American hostage Paul Johnson in June, they shot dead Abdulaziz al-Muqrin, a particularly brutal and reckless self-publicist. Al-Qaeda has been forced to appoint four new leaders in the past year.

Do expatriates still consider the country safe?

Expatriates, despite the attacks of the past decade, generally enjoy their time in Saudi Arabia and most have chosen to stay. They have increased their personal security and changed their lifestyle and live in fortified compounds with surveillance - their embassy websites put out lurid warnings for them. They say they get on well with ordinary Saudis and argue that there is risk wherever one lives - and less risk of crime in Saudi streets than in the West.

Today's attack will have come as a nasty shock, coming just before the Christmas holiday when they had been hoping the worst was over. It will send shockwaves through the whole community of 100,000 Western expatriates in Saudi Arabia, and the several million more from the Indian subcontinent.

What is Jeddah noted for?

Jeddah has a bustling, cosmopolitan feel. The city is on the western side of Saudi Arabia, about halfway up the Red Sea coast and has a population of around two million, including thousands of expatriates - not only Westerners but from India as well.

Located on ancient trade routes, it is still the country's commercial centre, and head offices of international companies are there. It was never the official capital, but was considered the "first city" of Saudi Arabia until the 1980s, when diplomats relocated to Riyadh.

The atmosphere is generally more relaxed than that of Riyadh - helped by its seaside location - whereas the capital, which is 800km (500 miles) to the east, is surrounded by desert.

The cosmopolitan feel comes also from the two million Muslims a year who travel through Jeddah's sea and air ports on pilgrimage to Mecca (75km to the east) and Medina. Until 1947 the city was contained in a square kilometre inside 1,000-year-old coral walls, and has since expanded to 500 times the area, with wide tree-lined avenues and modern architecture.

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