There may have been, uh, dry runs for this sort of thing.
“Saudi tightens security to protect oil plants,” from GulfNews, August 31 (thanks to Iraq the Model):
KHOBAR, Saudi Arabia: Saudi Arabia has tightened security at oil facilities after the country’s anti-terror chief, Deputy Interior Minister Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, escaped a suicide attack, guards at Abqaiq, the world’s biggest oil processing plant, said yesterday….
Al Qaeda, meanwhile, claimed responsibility for the suicide attack and said that the bomber, Abdullah Hassan Taleh Al Asiri, had managed to pass security checkpoints and board a private aircraft, Site Intelligence said yesterday.
A statement posted on jihadist forums by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula said Al Asiri passed through checkpoints at Najran airport, near the Yemeni border, and Jeddah airport, the US monitoring service said.
He then boarded Prince Mohammed’s private jet with his explosives, according to the statement, which said he finally blew himself up amongst the prince’s guards. The site also published a picture of Asiri.
Saudi-owned Al Arabiya TV said Asiri was a 23-year-old Saudi whose brother Ibrahim was also on the wanted list.
It said the attacker concealed the explosives in his anus, allowing him to evade detection.
The network also quoted an expert as saying that the method of concealment aimed the blast away from the target, while blowing the bomber to bits….