Several injured in explosion at Saudi Armistice Day event

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Several people have been wounded in an explosion in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah during a ceremony to commemorate the end of the first world war attended by staff from foreign diplomatic missions, officials have said.

“The embassies involved condemn this cowardly attack, which is wholly unjustified,” the French foreign ministry said. “They call on the Saudi authorities to shed as much light as they can on this attack, and to identify and hunt down the perpetrators.”

A Greek government official told Reuters that an explosive device had gone off at a ceremony at the non-Muslim cemetery in Jeddah. Four people had been slightly injured, the official said, including a Greek national.

A statement from the Mecca governorate on Saudi state TV said two people were injured: a Greek consulate employee and a security person.

The Remembrance Day event was reportedly organised by the French embassy in Saudi Arabia for several diplomatic delegations from the EU and from other countries. Saudi officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

There was an attack at the French consulate in Jeddah last month in which a Saudi man was arrested after wounding a security guard. The consulate urged French nationals in the city on Wednesday to exercise maximum vigilance.

“In particular, exercise discretion, and stay away from all gatherings and be cautious when moving around,” said the statement, circulated to French residents. It said only two people had been injured in the blast.

Saudi state TV said the site of the cemetery had been secured and police were investigating the explosion. Traffic had returned to normal in the area, it said.

Tensions between France and many Muslim-majority countries have been heightened following the beheading near Paris of a French junior high school teacher after he showed caricatures of the prophet Muhammad to pupils in a class on free speech.

Citing his country’s commitment to free speech, strict secular traditions and right to blasphemy, President Emmanuel Macron promised France would not “renounce caricatures” in the wake of the attack, angering many in the Muslim world who view the cartoons as extremely offensive.

There were angry protests in several countries, some burning Macron’s effigy, while in others supermarkets boycotted French products. The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said Macron should have “his mental health tested”.

The French president sought to calm the anger in an interview with the al-Jazeera news channel in which he said he understood that Muslims were “shocked” by the depictions of Muhammad, which he said did not reflect the state’s views.

Saudi Arabia, which is home to Islam’s holiest sites, has criticised the cartoons, but senior clerics have also called for calm and urged people to follow the prophet’s example of “mercy, justice, tolerance”.

The Saudi government also said it “strongly condemned” a second fatal Islamist attack in France last month in which two women worshippers and a church sexton were killed at the Notre Dame basilica in Nice.

On Tuesday the French president hosted a summit of European leaders to plot a joint approach to combating what he calls “Islamist radicalism” after four people were killed in a shooting rampage in the heart of Vienna last week.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...on-armistice-day-ceremony-jeddah-saudi-arabia

 

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France says Remembrance Day blast in Saudi city Jeddah wounds several, condemns "cowardly attack"

PARIS/RIYADH (Reuters) - A bomb attack on a World War One remembrance ceremony in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah wounded several people on Wednesday, France said, urging its citizens living in the conservative kingdom to exercise maximum vigilance.

France’s Foreign Ministry said the attack had taken place at a ceremony in the Red Sea port city involving foreign embassies, and that an explosive device had been used. A Greek official told Reuters four people had been wounded.

“There was some sort of a blast at the non-Muslim cemetery in Jeddah. There are four slightly injured, among them one Greek,” the Greek official told Reuters, declining to named.

“The embassies that were involved in the commemoration ceremony condemn this cowardly attack, which is completely unjustified,” a French Foreign Ministry statement said.

“They call on the Saudi authorities to shed as much light as they can on this attack, and to identify and hunt down the perpetrators.”

The French consulate in Jeddah, in a statement seen by Reuters, urged its nationals in Saudi Arabia to exercise “maximum vigilance” following the attack.

“In particular, exercise discretion, stay away from all gatherings and be cautious when moving around,” said the statement, which was emailed to French residents in Jeddah. The statement said only two people had been injured.

A source with knowledge of the matter said the attack happened early on Wednesday when several diplomatic delegations from the European Union and other countries were present at a Remembrance Day event organised by the French Embassy.

The Saudi government communications office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The explosion was the second security incident to take place in Jeddah in the last couple of weeks.

On Oct. 29 a Saudi man was arrested after attacking and wounding a security guard at the French consulate there.

It followed the beheading earlier in October near Paris of a French school teacher by a man of Chechen origin who had said he wanted to punish the teacher for showing pupils cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad in a civics lesson.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...everal-condemns-cowardly-attack-idUSKBN27R1EZ

 

[MenInG]

An explosion during an Armistice Day ceremony at a cemetery in Saudi Arabia has left four people injured, including a Briton, officials have said.

The explosive device was set off during the service in Jeddah on Wednesday morning, which was organised by the French Embassy, sources told Reuters.

A number of diplomats from EU countries were present at the event marking the end of the First World War.

Hours after the attack, Saudi state-media quoted a local official who said a Greek consulate employee and a Saudi security man were lightly wounded in the incident. The British government said one UK national also suffered minor injuries.

The French foreign ministry described the attack as "cowardly" and "completely unjustified".

"We call on the Saudi authorities to shed as much light as they can on this attack, and to identify and hunt down the perpetrators," they said in a statement.

Greece's Foreign Ministry condemned the attack and said a Greek policeman, who had been accompanying a consulate employee to the ceremony, was hospitalized but his life was not in danger.

The French consulate in Saudi Arabia issued an urgent warning to citizens living there, asking them to exercise "maximum vigilance" and "stay away from gatherings".

Saudi state TV claimed the situation was "stable" but has not commented further.

It is the second security incident in the city in recent weeks.

On 29 October, a man was arrested after attacking and injuring a security guard outside the French consulate. His motives remain unclear.

 

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Unidentified assailants sprayed the embassy of Saudi Arabia in the Netherlands with gunfire before dawn on Thursday, police said. No one was hurt in the incident.

Dutch police said there had been no arrests after the building was hit just before 6am (0500GMT). Images on Dutch television showed casings scattered on the street and bullet holes in the windows.

A police spokesman said the motive was under investigation and it was unclear who might have been responsible.

In a statement, the embassy condemned the “cowardly attack” and urged Saudi citizens in the Netherlands to be on high alert and to exercise caution.

The embassy praised Dutch authorities for their prompt response, saying it looks forward to investigating the circumstances, knowing the results and bringing those behind the incident to justice.

The Dutch foreign ministry said in a statement that it was taking the shooting extremely seriously and was in close contact with Saudi authorities.

The incident occurred a day after an explosion at a World War One remembrance ceremony involving foreign embassies in the Saudi city of Jeddah, which wounded several people.

The explosion was the second security incident to take place in the Red Sea port city in the last couple of weeks, and the first apparent bomb attack targeting foreigners in the conservative kingdom.

 

[MenInG]

The militant Islamic State group said on Thursday that it carried out a bombing against a gathering of diplomats in Saudi Arabia, saying it was to protest French cartoons of Holy Prophet Mohammad (PBUH).

Wednesday's attack struck a World War I commemoration at a non-Muslim cemetery in the Red Sea city of Jeddah, wounding at least two people.

It came less than a month after a guard at the French consulate in Jeddah was wounded by a knife-wielding Saudi, amid Muslims' fury over satirical cartoons of the Holy Prophet (PBUH).

A statement by IS's propaganda arm, Amaq, said the attack “primarily targeted the French consul over his country's insistence on publishing the cartoons insulting to the Prophet of God”.

An earlier statement by the terrorist group on its Telegram channel said IS fighters had “planted an explosive device in [...] the cemetery in the city of Jeddah yesterday (Wednesday)”.

Diplomats from France, Greece, Italy, Britain and the United States attended the Armistice Day commemoration ceremony in Jeddah, their embassies said in a statement after the bombing.

They condemned the attack as “cowardly”.

A Greek policeman residing in Saudi Arabia was wounded, a Greek diplomatic source said, and a British citizen was also believed to have been hurt.

A Saudi policeman suffered minor injuries, state-owned Al-Ekhbariya television added, citing the governor of Makkah region, where Jeddah is located.

Teacher's murder
The Charlie Hebdo cartoons were shown by French history teacher Samuel Paty to pupils in a class on free speech, leading to his beheading outside Paris on October 16.

His murder followed an online campaign by parents angry over his choice of lesson material. Since Paty's killing, French officials — backed by many citizens — have re-asserted the right to display the sketches, and the images have been widely displayed at marches in solidarity with the killed teacher.

That has prompted an outpouring of anger in parts of the Muslim world, with some governments accusing French leader Emmanuel Macron of pursuing an anti-Islam agenda. Macron's stance angered many Muslims, prompting huge protests in several countries at which portraits of France's president were burnt, and a campaign to boycott French products.

But Macron has since tried to assuage Muslim anger.

Last week French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian visited Egypt where he met the head of Al-Azhar, considered the foremost religious institution for Sunni Muslims, to try to defuse the furor.

Regional heavyweight Saudi Arabia — home to Islam's holiest sites — has criticised the cartoons, saying it rejected “any attempt to link Islam and terrorism”.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1590023/m...-world-war-i-commemoration-ceremony-in-jeddah