Manama: Thousands of mourners laid to rest the four Saudis who were killed on Friday in a suicide bomb attack on a mosque in Al Ahsa.
The collective funeral prayers for Hussain Al Bader, Fouad Al Mamtan, his son Mohammad Al Mamtan and Maher Al Abdullah were performed on Monday afternoon in a stadium in the town of Mibraz before they were buried.
In their eulogies, relatives condemned the attack as a cowardly act carried out by senseless people, and urged the grieving communities to show patience in the face of such acts and not let them affect the harmony in their midst.
The bodies were later taken to the cemeteries in the nearby home villages of the victims where they were buried.
Mourners carried signs stating that they would not be dragged into any form of sectarianism, a message to those seeking to use the attack to create a sect-based fissure within the society. The attack was carried out in a Shiite mosque.
The community hall in Mibraz was dedicated to receiving mourners and people offering their condolences for three days, Saudi daily Al Sharq reported.
Families of the victims said they expected people from Saudi Arabia and abroad to visit them at the hall to offer their sympathies and condolences.
According to the interior ministry, 33 people were also injured — including three security men — when the suicide bomber blew himself up on Friday at Al Redha Mosque.
On Saturday, the authorities identified the perpetrator of the attack as Abdul Rahman Bin Abdullah Bin Sulaiman Al Tuwaijri, a 22-year-old Saudi national. They said that a second suicide bomber was arrested after he was wounded.
Late on Monday, the interior ministry said that the second bomber was an Egyptian national.
Talha Hesham Mohammad Abdah had arrived in Saudi Arabia in July 2013 on a family visa to join his father, a resident in the kingdom, the ministry said.
Abdah is currently being treated after he was wounded during his failed attempt to detonate explosives he was carrying.
The ministry added that it was still investigating the attack. “The security forces will continue their efforts to identify and track down all those involved in the attack through planning, execution, support and direct or indirect incitement,” it pledged.
The Saudi cabinet, convening for its regular session on Monday, said that it remained strongly committed to eradicating terrorism and described the attack in Al Ahsa as a murderous act.
The bombing was widely condemned by several religious and social figures as “an act of cowardice” that did not reflect Islamic values or social traditions.
Abdul Rahman Al Sudais, the Grand Imam of the Haram Mosque in Makkah said that all imams in the kingdom condemned the attack, and warned against acts of violence and terrorist crimes, saying they were terrible evils and ominous deceptions used to target Muslims.
