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The attack, which according to a witness left one of the attendees terrified and drenched in blood, comes as French President Emmanuel Macron has tried to quell Muslim anger over cartoons printed by the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.
JEDDAH – A bomb blast hit a World War I commemoration attended by French diplomats and others in the Saudi city of Jeddah on Wednesday, wounding at least two people in the second such assault in weeks.
The attack on a non-Muslim cemetery comes less than a month after a French consulate guard in Jeddah was wounded by a knife-wielding Saudi citizen, amid the wrath of Muslim nations over satirical cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. .
Diplomats from France, Greece, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States attended the Armistice Day commemoration ceremony in the Red Sea port city, according to a joint statement from their embassies that condemned the “cowardly attack.”
“The annual ceremony commemorating the end of World War I at the Jeddah non-Muslim cemetery, attended by several consulates, including that of France, was the target of an IED (improvised explosive device) attack this morning, which wounded several people, “said the French Foreign Ministry.
The attack, which according to a witness left one of the attendees terrified and drenched in blood, comes as French President Emmanuel Macron has tried to quell Muslim anger over cartoons printed by the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.
A Greek policeman residing in the kingdom was among the injured, a Greek diplomatic source told AFP.
A British citizen is also believed to have been injured.
A Saudi policeman suffered minor injuries, Al-Ekhbariya state television added, citing the governor of the Mecca region, where Jeddah is located.
“The (Saudi) security services will launch an investigation into an assault incident during a meeting of several consuls in Jeddah,” Ekhbariya said.
‘COVERED IN BLOOD’
The bomb caused panic when it exploded while the French consul was delivering a speech at the ceremony, according to witness Nadia Chaaya.
“At the end of the speech we heard an explosion. At first we didn’t fully understand it, but then we realized that we were the target,” Chaaya told French broadcaster BFMTV.
“We panicked and feared there might be a second explosion. We left the cemetery … and they all went their separate ways.”
Mohammed Belmaziz, another eyewitness, said that amid the chaos and screaming he saw a person whose face was “covered in blood.”
Roads leading to the cemetery in central Jeddah were blocked by Saudi traffic police, according to an AFP photographer at the scene.
While condemning the “shameful” attack, the embassies of the countries involved in the commemoration praised the “brave Saudi first responders who helped those at the scene.”
The European Union delegation in the kingdom also thanked the Saudi emergency services and urged local authorities to carry out a “swift and thorough investigation” of the attack.
‘EXTREME SURVEILLANCE’
The French embassy in Riyadh has urged its citizens in Saudi Arabia to exercise “extreme vigilance” since the attack on the Jeddah consulate on October 29, the same day a man armed with a knife killed three people in a church. in Nice, in the south of France.
Several countries are celebrating the 102nd anniversary of the armistice signed by Germany and the allied countries to end the war.
Macron has vigorously defended the right to publish cartoons that some consider offensive, including cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.
Charlie Hebdo cartoons were shown by French history teacher Samuel Paty to students in a class on freedom of expression, leading to his beheading outside Paris on October 16 following an online campaign by angry parents. for your choice of lesson material.
Macron’s stance angered many Muslims, sparking protests in several countries in which portraits of the French president were burned and a campaign to boycott French goods.
The regional heavyweight of Saudi Arabia, home to Islam’s holiest sites, has criticized the cartoons, saying it rejected “any attempt to link Islam and terrorism,” but fell short of condemning the French leadership.
Riyadh also “strongly” condemned last month’s attack in Nice.
On Tuesday, Macron organized a summit of European leaders to chart a joint approach to combat Islamist radicalism after four people were killed in a shooting in the heart of Vienna last week.
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