RIYADH (Al Arabiya, Agencies)
Saudi Arabia's Deputy Interior Minister Prince Mohammed bin Nayef escaped an assassination attempt in Jeddah late on Thursday after a suicide bomber managed to get close to the prince and blow himself up.
Prince Nayef, who is responsible for battling terrorism in the kingdom, was meeting well-wishers for the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan when a man, who was a wanted militant, insisted on meeting the prince to announce he was giving himself up to authorities and then detonated his explosives, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.
" This will only increase our determination to eradicate this " Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Nayef SPA said the man, who was not named, was the only casualty.
The Saudi wing of al-Qaeda was swift in claiming responsibility. In a statement posted on an Islamist website, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula said it was behind the bomb, according to the U.S.-based monitoring group, SITE Intelligence.
The attack was the first to directly target a member of the royal family since the start of a wave of violence by Qaeda sympathizers in 2003 against the Saudi monarchy. |
"This will only increase our determination to eradicate this (terrorism)," said Prince Nayef, apparently slightly injured, in a meeting with Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz who was visiting him in the hospital.
Jamal Khashaqji, editor-in-Chief of the Saudi newspaper al-Watan, told Al Arabiya that targeting Prince Nayef, as a member of the royal family, represents Qaeda’s fight for power and authority, not for reform as it claims.
Earlier this month, Saudi authorities announced the arrest of 44 Qaeda-linked suspects and the seizure of explosives, detonators and firearms.
In 2004, suspected terrorists rammed a vehicle laden with explosives into the entrance of the Interior Ministry headquarters in the capital Riyadh. |
