Saudi Arabia: Two wounded in attack on WWI ceremony

A bomb attack at a World War I commemoration ceremony in the Saudi city of Jeddah left "several people" injured on Wednesday, French officials said.

Saudi officials later confirmed the bomb attack, saying at least two people were wounded. State media quoted a local official as saying that a Greek consulate employee and a Saudi security officer were lightly wounded.

The attack took place as diplomats from France, Greece, Italy, the UK and the United States gathered to commemorate the end of WWI.

All five embassies released a joint statement condemning the "cowardly attack."

"Such attacks on innocent people are shameful and entirely without justification," the embassies said in a statement.

The statement also acknowledge the work of Saudi first responders at the scene.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, although Saudi officials said an investigation was ongoing. 

Recent attacks

The attack follows on the heels of a stabbing at the French Consulate in Jeddah at the end of October that left one guard slightly wounded.

The stabbing in Saudi Arabia came the same day as a deadly knife attack at a church in the southern French city of Nice, with the attacker killing three people.

French President Emmanuel Macron has faced backlash in predominantly Muslim countries in recent weeks over defending the right to publish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. In October, history teacher Samuel Paty was beheaded outside of his school after showing 2012 caricatures from the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo as part of his class. On January 7, 2015, two Islamists forced their way into the magazine's offices, killing 12 people and injuring 11 more.

France has urged its citizens in Saudi Arabia and other countries to be "on maximum alert" amid heightened tensions with Muslim-majority countries. Paty's killing and other recent attacks in other countries prompted European leaders to mull tighter border controls and other measures during a meeting on Tuesday.

Wednesday marks the 102nd anniversary of the end of World War I, when Germany and Allied signed an armistice to put an end to the fighting. The day is celebrated by several countries, with the French Embassy reportedly organizing Wednesday's event in Jeddah.

rs/msh (AP, AFP, Reuters)