RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) - Three British men arrested in Saudi Arabia in connection with bombings in December, January and March confessed on state-run TV Monday.
The arrests were announced Monday minutes before the men appeared on TV. They spoke in English with a voice-over in Arabic.
The three men identified themselves as James Patrick Lee, James Kotel and Les Walker. (Read photo caption below)Their names were translated from Arabic and the spellings could not be immediately confirmed.
They described the three bombings in almost identical detail, using street maps and photographs of buildings.
The men said they had received orders - but did not say from whom - and that two of the bombings, both in Riyadh, were carried out by remote control. The motive for the attacks was unclear.
The Britons said they were instructed to conduct the first bombing in Khobar, but that they were told to choose their own targets in Riyadh.
A Dec. 15 explosion in Khobar injured a British man. A bombing in Riyadh on Jan. 10 caused damage but no casualties; an explosion outside a bookstore in Riyadh injured a Briton and an Egyptian on March 15.
In the third bombing, Kotel said he was ordered ``again to pick a store used regularly by Western people.''
In his confession, Walker said Kotel told him on Jan. 10 that they wanted to plant an explosive device to ``create some disturbance and confuse police and they wanted to do this for Sandy (Alexander Mitchell) and his colleagues. Like a fool, I agreed.''
In a similar confession, Mitchell, a Briton, and two others - a Belgian and a Canadian - had appeared on Saudi TV in February and confessed to carrying out bombings in November that killed a British man and wounded four Britons.
In a TV statement, Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef did not say when the men were arrested or if they would be tried.
British Embassy officials were not available for comment Monday. However, a British Foreign Office spokeswoman said Saudi authorities had informed the Foreign Office said Sunday that three British nationals had confessed to some bombings and an announcement would be made shortly.
Lee said he worked as an artificial limbs technician at the military hospital in Riyadh. Kotel said he worked for a fencing company in Riyadh. Walker said he worked as a manager at the Saudi Production Holding Company.
Following Monday's confessions, all six bombings in Saudi Arabia between November and May have been confessed to, except a May 15 parcel bombing that seriously injured an American.
PHOTO CAPTION:
A British man identified as Jamie Patrick Lee is shown on Saudi television confessing to bomb attacks, according to the Saudi government. Three Britons were shown on Saudi Arabian state television, said to be confessing to bomb attacks which Saudi newspapers have linked to a lucrative illegal alcohol trade in the conservative Muslim kingdom. (Saudi TV via Reuters)