Riyadh - Western embassies in Saudi Arabia have advised their nationals to be alert after the killing of four French expatriates wondering if this might signal a resumption of anti-Western attacks.
Several residents on Wednesday said that while they were shocked by Monday's shootings near the Muslim holy city of Medina, they would only be alarmed if a further attack took place. "If it were to happen again, it would send a ripple of concern across the expatriate community and have a very negative effect," said Peter Howarth-Lees, the British manager of a residential compound inhabited by expatriates in Riyadh.
He added: "At the moment, we don't know if this was an isolated attack or a hate crime by some locals who don't like Westerners.
"Security forces since 2004 have made great strides in taking out a lot of militants operating in the country."
More at link
|