Truck’s Crankshaft Found At Bomb Site

The FBI recovered a blackened crankshaft Friday from the deadly truck bomb that killed 19 Americans - the first known clue in the hunt for the terrorists. A new bomb threat reminded nervous U.S. troops of their vulnerability.

With tears of sorrow and rage, hundreds of shaken American servicemen bade farewell Friday to their 19 slain comrades at a memorial service. “We are angry beyond words,” their commander said.

American officials have acknowledged they have no leads on who was behind the truck bombing and doubt the claims of responsibility by previously unknown groups.

Investigators have some evidence linking the bombing to another deadly attack against Americans in the Saudi capital last November, Defense Secretary William J. Perry said Friday.

“The investigation is centered on the possibility that this was (done by) the same group that did the November bombing,” he said, in which five Americans and two Indians were killed when a car bomb ripped into a military complex in Riyadh.

Four Saudis convicted of the November bombing were beheaded on May 31. They were said to have had ideological ties to Islamic extremists outside Saudi Arabia.

If a serial number or other identifiable marking is found on the crankshaft, it could help lead to the owner of the vehicle.

U.S. officials disclosed Friday that moments before Tuesday’s explosion, the bombers fled in a white, mid-1980s, Chevrolet Caprice Classic automobile. The Caprice Classic is the single most popular car model in the kingdom, which will make it hard to trace the vehicle without a license plate number or other details.