RIYADH: Saudi Arabia on Tuesday identified the suicide bomber who struck outside the US Consulate in Jeddah as a Pakistani resident of the kingdom who arrived 12 years ago to work as a driver.
An Interior Ministry statement issued on Tuesday identified the man behind the Jeddah attack as 34-year-old Abdullah Gulzar Khan.
It said he lived in the port city with “his wife and her parents.†The statement didn’t elaborate.
Meanwhile, Pakistan has started investigations in the wake of the Jeddah suicide blast which was believed to be carried out by a Pakistani citizen.
The Foreign Ministry on Tuesday asked the Interior Ministry and other authorities concerned to gather the bio-data of Abdullah Gulzar Khan.
It was not yet confirmed by Pakistani officials that Khan was a Pakistani national.
Speaking to a private news channel, Pakistan’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Manzoorul Haq said no Pakistani national was involved in the Jeddah attack and refused to comment any further.
The suicide bombing near the diplomatic post was the first of three targeting the kingdom on Monday, including one outside of the sprawling Masjid-e-Nabvi (SAW) in Medina that killed four Saudi security troops and wounded five.
Governor of Makkah Prince Faisal bin Salman was shown on the state television visiting security officers wounded in the Madina blast and the site of that explosion within hours of the blast.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the Jeddah and Madina attacks, nor another at a Shia mosque in the east of the country.
The nature of attacks and their apparently coordinated timing suggested that the Islamic State could be behind them.
Saudi officials reported that a Saudi national was involved in the suicide bombing outside the Masjid-e-Nabvi (SWA).
In the attack, the bomber detonated his explosives after two security guards approached him, killing himself and lightly wounding the two guards, the Interior Ministry said. No consular staff were hurt.
The Foreign Office of Pakistan said authorities in Islamabad were working to get more details about the man.
Monday’s bombings in Madina and Qatif took place simultaneously.
A witness, who gave his name only as Ayman, told AFP there were two explosions near the Shia mosque.
Pictures said to be from the scene and circulated by residents showed a small fire burning in the street, severed limbs and what appeared to be a head.
The ministry said in the statement published on the official SPA news agency that the bomber’s explosive belt had “partially†exploded.
The US embassy in Riyadh reported no injuries among the consulate staff.
There are around 9 million foreigners living in Saudi Arabia, which has a total population of 30 million. Among all foreigners living in the kingdom, Pakistanis represent one of the largest groups.
President Mamnoon Hussain, who had been visiting the kingdom for a religious pilgrimage, left Jeddah on Tuesday, the official Saudi Press Agency reported.
The Saudi ministry said the attacker in the Madina assault set off the bomb in a parking lot after security officers became suspicious about him. Several cars caught fire and thick plumes of black smoke were seen rising from the site of the explosion as thousands of worshippers crowded the streets around the mosque.
Worshippers expressed shock that such a prominent holy site could be targeted.
Masjid-e-Nabvi (SAW) was packed on Monday evening with worshippers during the final days of the Muslim holy month of Ramazan.
Local media say the attacker was intending to strike the mosque when it was crowded with thousands of worshippers gathered for the Maghrib prayers.
Qari Ziyaad Patel, 36, from Johannesburg, South Africa, was at the mosque when he heard a blast just as people were breaking their fast with dates. Many at first thought it was the sound of traditional, celebratory cannon fire, he said.
“I actually felt the ground shake,†he said. “The vibrations were very strong. ... It sounded like a building imploded.â€
â€"Originally published in The News
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