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Expats alert after Saudi ambush
28/02/2007 19:11 - (SA)
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."
John Wiese, a 55-year-old Canadian who regularly goes on desert trips, said expatriates were wondering whether the killing of the Frenchmen was "a one-off incident or was linked to the previous campaign" against Westerners.
Killings 'upsetting'
Wiese said he had planned a desert camping with friends on Thursday but they dropped the outing "not because we are scared, but because we are upset" about the killings.
The four victims were among three French families returning to Riyadh after a visit to a historic site in northwestern Saudi Arabia and were shot dead by masked gunmen in a desert area.
Wiese said: "So far, there has been sadness, shock and anger but not fear. Everybody feels very positive about what the government has been doing and its zero tolerance toward any aspect of terrorism."
'A case of bad luck'
Raymond Romestant, an American resident, said: "We can't let fear govern our lives. I have faith in this country and the way authorities have dealt so far with the problem of terrorism.
"Forget all labels: we had four people killed - three or four people are killed every day in every country, four were probably killed in America that day. There are different reasons these things happen."
Andre Maillet-Contoz, a French engineer who knew the victims and occasionally went on desert trips with them, said he thought the shootings were a case of "bad luck" rather than a planned attack.
He said: "I will become more cautious. I will not completely change my way of life, but I will avoid travelling to remote areas."
Two of the victims, Jean-Marc Bonnet and his 17-year-old son Romain, were Muslim, and Saudi newspapers reported that funeral prayers were held for them at the Prophet's Mosque in Medina, Islam's second holiest site.
Citizens to be careful
Bonnet's widow, Zakia Raffouk, was of Moroccan origin.
The French embassy in Riyadh on Wednesday issued a security message reminding the 3 600 French nationals in the country to be cautious and limit their movements.
The US and British embassies also urged their citizens to be vigilant.
- AFP
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