RIYADH, March 18: With a war looming in Iraq, Saudi Arabia has increased its military and security alert levels, and assured all Westerners on Tuesday that it would ensure their safety in case of any backlash during the conflict.

The police, the army and other security agencies have been put on a state of alert, especially including those forces guarding its long land border with Iraq where a watch is being kept on refugees from the conflict zone. The Arar airport, near the Iraqi border has also been officially closed.

Security has also been boosted around the oil installations in the eastern province. More than 90 per cent of Saudi oil originates from this region and which is of critical importance for keeping the oil lines to the world open at all times. During the first Gulf war, Scud missiles were fired at the eastern province by the Saddam regime.

Although no large-scale exodus of foreigners has taken place as yet, western expatriates have been advised to keep a low profile and avoid going out late in the evenings so that attacks on them may not occur. The US embassy has told its nationals living here that they could be soft targets for any such attacks.

A number of Western expatriates have send their families back home. Some more are still pondering about sending their families out of the country.

Meanwhile, the Speaker of the Saudi Shoura Council, Sheikh Saleh bin Hameed, has warned that the US will be greeted with “destruction and trouble” if it invades Iraq without new authority from the UN Security Council. He added that the US actions would undermine international law.