ISIS claimed responsibility for a bomb attack during a rally of diplomats in Saudi Arabia. (Representative)
Beirut, Lebanon:
The IS group said on Thursday it carried out a bombing attack on a rally of diplomats in Saudi Arabia, saying it was to protest the French caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad.
Wednesday’s attack hit a World War I commemoration at a non-Muslim cemetery in the Red Sea city of Jeddah, injuring at least two people.
It came less than a month after a guard at the French consulate in Jeddah was injured by a Saudi armed with a knife, amid Muslim fury over the satirical cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.
French President Emmanuel Macron has vigorously defended the right to publish cartoons deemed offensive by some, including the Prophet, but he also tried to ease tensions around his comments.
A statement by ISIS propaganda arm Amaq said the attack “was primarily aimed at the French consul because of his country’s indistance to publish the cartoons insulting the prophet of God.”
An earlier statement by the jihadist group on its Telegram channel said IS fighters “planted an explosive device in … the cemetery in Jeddah city yesterday (Wednesday)”.
The attack was carried out “in support” of the Prophet Muhammad, he added.
Diplomats from France, Greece, Italy, Britain and the United States attended the Armistice Day commemoration ceremony in Jeddah, their embassies said in a statement after the attack.
They condemned the attack as “cowardly”.
A Greek policeman residing in Saudi Arabia was injured, a Greek diplomatic source said, and a British citizen was also reportedly injured.
A Saudi policeman was slightly injured, public television Al-Ekhbariya added, citing the governor of the Mecca region, where Jeddah is located.
Charlie Hebdo cartoons were shown by French history teacher Samuel Paty to students in a free speech class, which led to his beheading outside Paris on October 16.
Her murder follows an online campaign by parents angry with her choice of educational materials.
Paying homage to the professor, Macron defended the strict secularism of France and its long tradition of satire. “We will not give up cartoons,” he promised last month.
And earlier in October, he described Islam, in a speech, as being “in crisis” and attacked “Islamist separatism” in parts of France.
Macron’s position angered many Muslims, sparking huge protests in several countries in which portraits of the French president were burned, and a campaign to boycott French products.
But Macron has since tried to appease the anger of Muslims.
Last week, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian traveled to Egypt where he met the leader of Al-Azhar, considered the most important religious institution of Sunni Muslims, to try to defuse fury.
Saudi Arabia, a heavyweight in the region – home to Islam’s holiest sites – criticized the cartoons, saying it rejects “any attempt to link Islam and terrorism.”
But Riyadh stopped before condemning the French leaders.
