Saudi man arrested after stabbing guard at French Consulate

The French embassy in Riyadh strongly condemned the attack and urged its nationals in Saudi Arabia to exercise "extreme vigilance."

French consulate in the Saudi Red Sea port of Jeddah, where a Saudi citizen wounded a guard in a knife attack on October 29, 2020.
AFP

French consulate in the Saudi Red Sea port of Jeddah, where a Saudi citizen wounded a guard in a knife attack on October 29, 2020.

A Saudi man has stabbed and slightly wounded a guard at the French Consulate in the city of Jeddah, authorities said, as France urged its citizens in the kingdom to be “on maximum alert.”

The Saudi Press Agency offered no immediate motive for the attack on Thursday in the Red Sea port city. However, it comes amid heightened tensions after an assailant decapitated a French middle school teacher who showed caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad for a class on free speech.

Those caricatures were published by Charlie Hebdo and cited by the men who gunned down the newspaper’s editorial meeting in 2015.

The Saudi Press Agency report, citing police spokesperson Maj Mohammed al Ghamdi, said the special force for diplomatic security was able to arrest the Saudi man after he stabbed the guard “using a sharp tool.” 

The attacker is said to be in his forties. The guard was taken to a hospital for treatment, the agency said.

A statement from the Mecca region's police said the guard suffered "minor injuries" and that "legal action" was being taken against the perpetrator.

The report did not elaborate. A statement published by the French Embassy in Riyadh mirrored the details of the news agency's account, saying that the diplomatic mission condemned the “unjustified” attack and urged its nationals in Saudi Arabia to exercise "extreme vigilance."

“We appeal to our compatriots in Saudi Arabia to be on maximum alert,” the statement said.

READ MORE: French belligerence unites the Muslim world

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Attack in Nice

In France on Thursday, authorities said an attacker armed with a knife killed three people at a church in the city of Nice. It wasn't immediately clear if that attack or the one in Jeddah involved the current controversy, which has seen protests across the Muslim world. 

Muslims also have called for boycotts of French products.

In Saudi Arabia, home to the holiest sites in Islam, there has been criticism of France but much-more muted than in other countries. The Saudi Foreign Ministry has said the kingdom “rejects any attempt to link Islam and terrorism, and denounces the offensive cartoons of the prophet.” 

Saudi clerics have condemned the caricatures, but have also cited the prophet’s “mercy, justice, tolerance.” Another prominent sheikh called on Muslims not to overreact.

READ MORE: Nice attack: Suspect arrested after fatal stabbing near France church

Historic tensions between France and Muslim world

From 2003 to 2007, Al Qaeda-linked militants carried out attacks in Saudi Arabia aimed at destabilising the Western-allied monarchy, including deadly bombings of residential compounds housing foreigners. Daesh has similarly carried out attacks in the kingdom.

Diplomatic posts have been targeted in the past. A 2004 armed assault on the US Consulate in Jeddah blamed on Al Qaeda killed five employees. In 2016, a suicide bomber blew himself up near that same US Consulate, wounding two guards.

READ MORE: France’s ‘draconian’ measures against Muslims condemned in petition

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