Saudis: Jeddah suicide bomber was a Pakistani

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.

The suicide bombing near the diplomatic post was the first of three targeting the kingdom on Monday, including one outside of the sprawling mosque grounds where the Prophet Muhammad is buried in the western city of Medina that killed four Saudi security troops and wounded five.

The governor of Mecca, Prince Faisal bin Salman, who is a son of King Salman, was shown on state television visiting security officers wounded in the Medina blast and the site of that explosion within hours of the blast.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the Jeddah and Medina attacks, nor another at a Shia mosque in the east of the country.

An interior ministry statement issued on Tuesday identified the man behind the Jeddah attack as 34-year-old Abdullah Qalzar Khan. It said he lived in the port city with “his wife and her parents.” The statement didn’t elaborate.

In that 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.

Pakistani foreign ministry spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said authorities in Islamabad were working to get more details about the man. He condemned the attacks and expressed solidarity with Saudi Arabia, saying the kingdom valued the contributions of Pakistani guest workers.

“Terrorism is a global phenomenon and is not country or people-specific,” Mr Zakaria said.

Outrage spread on Tuesday after the suicide bombing at Medina.

Religious and political leaders across West Asia denounced the attack near the Prophet’s Mosque that came as Muslims prepare for the feast this week marking the end of Ramzan.

The suicide bombing in Medina came during sunset prayers at the mosque.

The Saudi interior ministry said officers became suspicious of a man heading for the Prophet’s Mosque through a parking lot.

The head of Saudi Arabia’s Shura Council, the kingdom’s main government advisory body, called it an “unprecedented” incident.

Cairo-based Al-Azhar, the highest authority in Sunni Islam, condemned the attacks and stressed “the sanctity of the houses of God, especially the Prophet’s Mosque.”