The anti-terror chief who is also a Saudi Prince had a narrow escape from an al Qaeda suicide bomber.
Saudi anti-terror chief escapes Qaeda suicide bomb
Saudi anti-terror chief escapes Qaeda suicide bomb
8 hours ago [AFP] RIYADH — Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, a Saudi royal family member who heads the kingdom's anti-terror fight, escaped little harmed from a suicide bomb attack in Jeddah, official news agency SPA said on Friday.
The deputy interior minister suffered only superficial injuries after the suicide bomber got close to him and detonated his explosives on Thursday evening, the agency said quoting a royal court statement.
The Saudi wing of Al-Qaeda was swift in claiming responsibility.
In a statement posted on an Islamist website late on Thursday, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula said it was behind the bomb, according to US-based monitoring group, SITE Intelligence. ....
The royal court said the bomber was a wanted terrorist who had approached the prince under the pretext he wanted to give himself up. He detonated his device while he was undergoing security checks, it added. ....
Prince Mohammed is the son of long time Interior Minister Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz, who has been in office since 1975. He serves as the minister's assistant for security affairs.
This was the first high-profile Al-Qaeda attack against the government since militants rammed a car bomb into the fortified interior ministry in Riyadh in 2004.
It was also the first strike on a member of the royal family since Al-Qaeda launched a wave of attacks in the kingdom in 2003, targeting Western establishments and oil facilities and leaving more that 150 Saudis and foreigners dead. ....
The deputy interior minister suffered only superficial injuries after the suicide bomber got close to him and detonated his explosives on Thursday evening, the agency said quoting a royal court statement.
The Saudi wing of Al-Qaeda was swift in claiming responsibility.
In a statement posted on an Islamist website late on Thursday, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula said it was behind the bomb, according to US-based monitoring group, SITE Intelligence. ....
The royal court said the bomber was a wanted terrorist who had approached the prince under the pretext he wanted to give himself up. He detonated his device while he was undergoing security checks, it added. ....
Prince Mohammed is the son of long time Interior Minister Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz, who has been in office since 1975. He serves as the minister's assistant for security affairs.
This was the first high-profile Al-Qaeda attack against the government since militants rammed a car bomb into the fortified interior ministry in Riyadh in 2004.
It was also the first strike on a member of the royal family since Al-Qaeda launched a wave of attacks in the kingdom in 2003, targeting Western establishments and oil facilities and leaving more that 150 Saudis and foreigners dead. ....
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