Terrorism hit Saudi Arabia again yesterday (Friday). Its perpetrators are again trying to test the resolve of the kingdom and sow sedition. Unlike the Qadeeh mosque suicide bombing two weeks ago, the number of casualties at the Dammam mosque bombing yesterday was, thank God, much less because of the vigilance of one resident.
The bombing shows that terror groups have fixed their sights on Saudi Arabia at a time when the kingdom is in the midst of a war aimed at defeating another extremist group, backed by Iran, which had destabilised neighbouring Yemen and threatens the strategic security of the entire Gulf region.
We are confident the kingdom is quite capable of confronting the new wave of terror. The recent past has proved Riyadh’s ability to defeat these groups, and foil their plans to divide the people.
The bombing two weeks ago showed Saudi unity at its best when the entire country rallied to the aid of the stricken community.
King Salman Bin Abdul Aziz was unequivocal in his pledge to apply the long arm of the law to “punish those who planned, abetted, executed and sympathised with” the Qadeeh crime.
Heinous crime
The perpetrators of yesterday’s heinous crime shall not get away with murder. The entire region today stands with Saudi Arabia in its fight against extremist groups. There must be no tolerance of such ideologies and propagators of hate.
These ideologies not only incite communal violence but threaten to engulf the region in sectarian tension. This tension would naturally allow foreign players to exploit the emotions of people to expand their influence and realise their destabilising designs in the region. Iran has, for example, managed to play such role in our region due to the spread of such sectarian tendencies.
As we express our deep condolences to the families of the victims whose lives were taken inside the house of Allah, we remain confident that the Dammam attack shall not succeed in dividing the kingdom and its perpetrators shall not prevail.
