Saudi Arabia: a security guard of the French consulate in Jeddah wounded with a knife
The French consulate in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia this Thursday, October 29, 2020, where the knife attack of a security guard took place.
Mohammed Ahmed / AFP
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
Saudi state television reported that an attack "using a sharp tool" was carried out on Thursday at the French consulate in Jeddah.
The assailant was "apprehended by the Saudi security forces immediately after the attack," added the French embassy in Riyadh.
Publicity
Read more
With our regional correspondent,
Nicolas Keraudren
This Thursday morning, a knife attack targeted a security guard, an employee of a security company, at the French consulate in Jeddah, in the west of the country.
The days of this vigil are not in danger, said the statement from the French embassy, even if he was transferred to hospital.
French diplomacy in Riyadh strongly condemns this attack which "
nothing can justify
".
pic.twitter.com/L9NOpkgT6C
France in Arabia (@FranceinKSA) October 29, 2020
This attack also resonates strongly with international news.
Last week, Emmanuel Macron's words during the tribute to Professor Samuel Paty shocked the Muslim world.
The French president then promised not to “
renounce the caricatures
” of the Prophet Muhammad.
As a result, calls for a boycott of French products and for demonstrations have been launched in several countries, particularly in Qatar and
Kuwait
.
Few reactions in Saudi Arabia
No initiative of this kind has yet been recorded in Saudi Arabia, the country of the two holy mosques.
This week, the Council of Ulemas also had a rather measured reaction to President Macron's remarks.
The secretary general of the highest religious authority in the kingdom had indeed said that "
the cartoons of the prophets feed the extremists
".
Moreover, this attack took place while Thursday is a public holiday in Saudi Arabia.
The inhabitants of the kingdom indeed celebrate the birth of the Prophet Muhammad.
►Also listen: Decryption - France and the Muslim world, the great misunderstanding?
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_FR
France
Saudi Arabia
Diplomacy
On the same subject
Reportage
Caricatures: Anger against France is growing in the streets of Baghdad