Saudi commandos landed on the roof of a housing complex on Sunday morning - a dramatic end to a 25-hour drama

Saudi commandos landed on the roof of a housing complex on Sunday morning - a dramatic end to a 25-hour drama which, according to the government, left 22 civilians dead, most of them foreigners. Islamist militants were holding dozens of foreigners hostage in the complex in the oil city of Khobar. Security forces freed about 50 people and arrested one of four gunmen. Several hostages and security men were killed. An Internet statement purporting to come from Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network said its militants had "slaughtered" an Italian and a Swedish hostage. A top al-Qaeda leader, Abdulaziz al-Muqrin, also said in an audio statement that militants had killed a Japanese citizen. The standoff began on Saturday when gunmen in military uniforms shot at Western oil firms and housing compounds. They killed at least nine Saudis and eight foreigners, before fleeing to the Oasis complex, which has housed executives from leading oil firms such as Royal Dutch Shell and Total. This was the second major attack on the Saudi oil industry in less than a month. Senior Saudi officials have been meeting Western oil executives in nearby Dhahran, to reassure them about security. Saturday's attack prompted Washington to reiterate a call for its citizens to leave Saudi Arabia. Britain repeated a warning to avoid all but essential travel to the kingdom. A statement signed by the "al Qaeda network in the Arabian Peninsula" has vowed to rid Saudi Arabia of what it called "infidels."