Saudi Diplomat Murdered By Terrorists In Karachi, Pakistan

The attack came days after unidentified attackers threw two hand grenades at the Saudi consulate in the city. –Photo by Reuters


Four Islamic terrorists attacked a vehicle containing Saudi Arabian embassy officials and one diplomat was killed in the attack sending shock waves across the government of Pakistan - the Pakistanis and Saudis are close allies.

From the report at DAWN:

Gunmen on motorcycles attacked a car belonging to the Saudi Arabian consulate in Karachi on Monday killing a Saudi diplomat, police and the Saudi ambassador said.

The shooting occurred days after unidentified attackers threw two hand grenades at the Saudi consulate in the city. No one was hurt in that attack.

“We condemn this attack. No one who carries out this kind of attack can be a Muslim,” the ambassador, Abdul Aziz al-Ghadeer, told Reuters. He did not give details on the rank of the diplomat who was killed.

It’s too early to determine who was behind the attack, the ambassador said, but he suggested “terrorists”, a reference to extremist militant groups such as al Qaeda, carried it out.

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have long been close allies.

Al Qaeda is violently opposed to the Saudi government and has vowed revenge for the killing of its leader, Saudi-born Osama bin Laden, by US special forces in Pakistan on May 2.

“We trust the Pakistani authorities and hope they will identify the terrorists and bring them to justice,” al-Ghadeer said.

Okay, so we have this terror attack on a foreign diplomat on the streets of Pakistan - the end result is that the diplomat is dead and the terrorists escaped on motorcyle. Okay, now let me compare this attack to what happened to Raymond Davis....an American embassy employee who narrowly escaped a trial for murder in Pakistan...but let's look at the circumstances described at the time that David shot and killed two Pakistanis in Lahore, Pakistan (from LA Times):

An employee of the U.S. consulate in Lahore shot and killed two armed Pakistani men on a motorcycle Thursday in what the employee told police was an act of self-defense after the men approached his car and one of them brandished a pistol, authorities said.

A bystander was also killed when he was struck by another consulate vehicle arriving at the scene, police said.

The shooting, which occurred late in the afternoon at a heavily congested intersection, could spark a backlash against the United States, which is already seen by many here as a superpower that exploits Pakistan and tramples on its sovereignty. Not long after the incident, angry crowds burned tires outside the Lahore police station where the consulate employee was being questioned and shouted anti-U.S. slogans.

Police said it was unclear what the intentions were of the two men who approached the employee's white sedan.
One of the men on the motorcycle then pulled out a handgun, Tareen said. The consulate employee pulled out his own handgun and fired at the two men several times. One of the men died at the scene and the other later at a local hospital. Tareen said the second man on the motorcycle also had a pistol, and that both handguns were loaded.

That incident with American Raymond Davis happened in January of this year and I ask you...do you not see nearly the exact circumstances of these two attacks? The only difference I see is that the attack on the Saudi diplomat had 4 attackers instead of 2.

At that time, the Pakistanis were outraged - in their view, this American embassy employee had wantonly killed two poor Pakistanis....well, now I'd say that if the Saudi diplomat had his own 1911 on his hip and the same training as Davis, he'd be alive today and not dead. Perhaps the Pakistanis would like to issue an apology to Raymond Davis today.

Gunmen kill Saudi diplomat in Karachi


KARACHI: Gunmen on motorcycles attacked a car belonging to the Saudi Arabian consulate in Karachi on Monday killing a Saudi diplomat, police and the Saudi ambassador said.

The shooting occurred days after unidentified attackers threw two hand grenades at the Saudi consulate in the city. No one was hurt in that attack.

“We condemn this attack. No one who carries out this kind of attack can be a Muslim,” the ambassador, Abdul Aziz al-Ghadeer, told Reuters. He did not give details on the rank of the diplomat who was killed.

It’s too early to determine who was behind the attack, the ambassador said, but he suggested “terrorists”, a reference to extremist militant groups such as al Qaeda, carried it out.

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have long been close allies.

Al Qaeda is violently opposed to the Saudi government and has vowed revenge for the killing of its leader, Saudi-born Osama bin Laden, by US special forces in Pakistan on May 2.

“We trust the Pakistani authorities and hope they will identify the terrorists and bring them to justice,” al-Ghadeer said.

“The authorities in Karachi are working very hard and we trust them. We are working together. We trust Pakistan will do its best to ensure the terrorists are caught and identified.”

Saudi Arabia is the world biggest oil exporter and any signs that it’s security is threatened could move global oil prices.

“There is no immediate impact of the shooting on the market and there is unlikely to be one unless the victim turns out to be someone important,” a Singapore-based Western crude trader said about the attack in Karachi.

Four people riding motorcycles opened fire on the Saudi diplomat’s car, a Karachi police official said.

“The Saudi national killed was himself driving the car and was probably going to the consulate from his house.”

Militants swearing allegiance to al Qaeda attacked Western targets, government sites and oil facilities in Saudi Arabia, one of Washington’s most strategic allies, between 2003 and 2006.

The operations included suicide bombings at Western housing compounds, the Saudi Interior Ministry headquarters in the capital Riyadh and petrochemicals companies.

In 2006, there was an attempt to storm the world’s biggest oil processing plant in the kingdom.

Pakistan’s commitment to fighting militancy was questioned after it was discovered that bin Laden was living in a garrison town close to the capital — by some accounts for five years — before his death.