A guard was stabbed at French consulate in Saudi Arabia today amid anger at Macron over Prophet Mohammed cartoons, reports Daily Mail.
- Attacker was arrested after injuring the guard with a ‘sharp tool’ in Jeddah today
- France’s embassy said guard was taken to hospital but his life is not in danger
- It comes on a day when a knifeman killed three after bursting into a church in Nice, France.
While no motive was given for the attack on the day of a festival marking the Prophet Mohammed’s birthday, it comes amid anger at France from across the Islamic world after president Emmanuel Macron staunchly defended the blasphemous cartoons of the Prophet which led to a teacher’s beheading.
Shops across the Muslim world have removed French goods ranging from cheese to cosmetics over President Emmanuel Macron’s anti-Islam statements.
France’s embassy in Riyadh has condemned the ‘attack on diplomatic premises which can never be justified’.
French diplomats also called on Saudi authorities to ‘shed light on this attack’ and ensure the safety of French people in the kingdom, where France has an embassy in Riyadh, an honorary consulate in Al-Khobar and French international schools.
‘We call on our compatriots in Saudi Arabia to show maximum vigilance,’ the embassy said after Saudi security forces apprehended the suspect, who is said to be a Saudi national in his 40s.
Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry issued a statement on the Nice attacks saying ‘we strongly condemn and denounce the terrorist attack’.
‘We reiterate the kingdom’s categorical rejection of such extremist acts that are inconsistent with all religions, human beliefs and common sense, and we affirm the importance of rejecting practices that generate hatred, violence and extremism,’ it said.
In France today, three people were killed at a church in Nice with two of them thought to have been beheaded by an attacker.
France’s anti-terrorism prosecutor said the man who killed three in a Nice church was a Tunisian who entered France from Italy.
The attack in Mediterranean city of Nice was the third in two months in France that authorities have attributed to extremists, including the beheading of a teacher.
“The Muslim community should condemn the stabbings in France .. such savagery has no place in civilized society .. it is inhuman .. one makes ones case and a stronger impact through discourse rather than violence .. such actions are ultimately self defeating and lead to the racist behaviors in USA and many other countries .. it could also affect the Biden-Trump election to the detriment of Muslims everywhere”, said Nasir Raza, a Pakistani American professional.
Later on Thursday morning, police said a man had been shot dead by cops in Avignon after threatening people with a handgun.
