WASHINGTON, Nov. 9 (Xinhuanet) -- The chairman of the US Senate Intelligence Committee said Sunday the committee was briefed by intelligence officials a week ago about the threat of a terrorist attack in Saudi Arabia.

    Pat Roberts, a Republican senator from Kansas, said on "Fox News Sunday" that intelligence officials warned US lawmakers a week ago to expect a terrorist attack in Saudi Arabia and other strikes in the country or elsewhere.

    He said he agreed with Saudi authorities that the attack was the work of the al-Qaeda terrorist organization.

    The bomb blast showed that Saudi Arabia, a oil-rich nation in the Middle East, is a target of terrorists as the United States and should do more to combat extremism, he said.

    He noted that the blast was another example of the global war on terrorism and proved the war on terror was going to be a long effort.

    The blast in Riyadh has left at least 17 people dead, includingfive children, and 122 injured, the state-run Saudi TV reported Sunday. The dead included seven Lebanese, four Egyptians, one Saudi and one Sudanese.

    No American died but a number of US citizens were among the wounded in the blast, a State Department spokesperson said. Enditem