We strongly condemn this cowardly and unjustifiable attack: France declared (Representation)
Paris, France:
A bomb hit a World War I commemoration attended by European diplomats in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah on Wednesday, France said, leaving several injured in anger among Muslims at French cartoons.
The attack on a non-Muslim cemetery is the second assault in the kingdom in less than a month, as French President Emmanuel Macron has sought to allay anger in Muslim nations over satirical cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.
“The annual ceremony to commemorate the end of the First World War at the non-Muslim cemetery in Jeddah, in the presence of several consulates, including that of France, was the target of an IED. [improvised explosive device] the attack this morning, which injured several people, “said the French Foreign Ministry.
“France strongly condemns this cowardly and unjustifiable attack.”
There was no immediate comment from the Saudi authorities.
The roads leading to the cemetery in central Jeddah were blocked by Saudi traffic police, according to an AFP photographer at the scene.
Last month, a Saudi citizen with a knife injured a guard at the French consulate in Jeddah on the same day that a man with a knife killed three people in a church in Nice, southern France.
The French embassy in Riyadh has urged its nationals in Saudi Arabia to show “extreme vigilance”.
Wednesday’s explosion came as Macron, the target of anger in much of the Muslim world for promising to face Islamist radicalism after a series of attacks, attended a World War I memorial service in Paris.
Several countries are celebrating the 102nd anniversary of the armistice signed by Germany and the allied countries to end the war.
Macron has vigorously defended the right to publish cartoons considered offensive by some, including cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad printed by the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.
The same 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 following a campaign online of parents angry with their choice of course material.
Macron’s position angered many Muslims, sparking protests in several countries in which portraits of the French president were burned, and a campaign to boycott French products.
Saudi Arabia, the heavyweight of the region, home to Islam’s holiest sites, criticized the cartoons, saying it rejects “any attempt to link Islam and terrorism”, but it does not did not condemn the French leaders.
Riyadh also “strongly” condemned last month’s attack in Nice.
Macron hosted a summit of EU leaders on Tuesday to plan a common approach to tackling Islamist radicalism after four people were killed in a shootout in the heart of Vienna last week.
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
