JEDDAH: A Saudi citizen wounded a guard in a knife attack at the French consulate in Jeddah on Thursday.

The assault came the same day as knifings at a church in the French city of Nice that left three people dead and several others wounded.

“The assailant was apprehended by Saudi security forces immediately after the attack. The guard was taken to hospital and his life is not in danger,” the French embassy said in a statement.

Police said the attacker was a Saudi, but it did not give the nationality of the guard, who they said had sustained minor injuries.

The French embassy in Riyadh urged its nationals in Saudi Arabia to exercise “extreme vigilance”.

Security around the Jeddah consulate later appeared to be tightened, with Saudi police cars seen patrolling around the complex at regular intervals.

In Riyadh, a correspondent saw two police cars stationed outside the embassy, located in the city’s high-security diplomatic quarter, as policemen prevented passers-by from taking photographs.

Neither the Saudi authorities nor the French embassy gave a possible motive for the attack.

But it comes after French President Emmanuel Macron vigorously defended the publication of blasphemous cartoons by the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo on free speech grounds.

Saudi Arabia has criticised the cartoons, saying it rejected “any attempt to link Islam and terrorism”, but it stopped short of condemning the French leadership.

Macron’s defence of Charlie Hebdo’s right to publish drawings of the holy Prophet (Peace be upon him) came after the murder on Oct 16 of a French school teacher who had shown cartoons to pupils during a class discussion about freedom of speech.

The history teacher, Samuel Paty, was killed by an 18-year-old Chechen man, Abdullakh Anzorov, who committed the gruesome crime outside Paty’s school in a Paris suburb after the teacher was denounced by angry parents on social media.

His murder prompted Macron to promise a crackdown in Islamists, including shutting down mosques and organisations accused of fomenting radicalism and violence.

Charlie Hebdo was targeted by jihadists in a 2015 massacre that killed 12 people, including some of its most famous cartoonists.

France has been on high alert for terror attacks since the massacre. The trial of suspected accomplices in that attack is under way in Paris.

The Jeddah attack puts a spotlight on Saudi Arabia, long criticised for promoting an ultra-conservative brand of Islam.

The country, however, is now in the midst of a once unimaginable liberalisation drive as it pushes a new era of openness while de-emphasising religion.

As part of the contentious drive, it has introduced glitzy mixed-gender concerts, magic shows and sporting extravaganzas with thumping after parties.

Last November, a Yemeni national wounded four Spanish nationals when he went on a stabbing spree during a live theatre performance in Riyadh.

Saudi state media pinned the blame on Al Qaeda, but so far there has been no claim of responsibility from the group and observers point at simmering resentment among arch-conservatives over the entertainment push.

Published in Dawn, October 30th, 2020