Thursday evening's attack on Prince Muhammad Bin Naif Bin Abdul Aziz, Assistant Interior Minister for Security Affairs, came in for strong condemnation by leaders of the Muslim World, religious figures and several other Islamic organizations. In separate cables to King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, Crown Prince Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General, Prince Naif Bin Abdul Aziz, Second Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, and Prince Muhammad, several leaders congratulated them on the safety of the Prince who has been in the forefront of Kingdom's anti-terror campaign. Prince Muhammad sustained superficial injuries when a suicide bomber blew himself up at his residence in Jeddah when the Prince was receiving well-wishers on the advent of the holy month of Ramadan. Reports said the bomber had sent word he wanted to surrender and the Prince had ordered that he not be searched to encourage others to come forward. Among those who sent cables of congratulations or talked with the leaders of the Kingdom on phone include Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah; Qatar's Emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani; President of United Arab Emirates Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al-Nahayan; Kuwait's Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah; Qatar's Crown Prince Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani; Kuwait's Premier Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah; Qatar's Premier and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassem Bin Jabr Al-Thani; and Sudan's President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir. The Arab League described it as “sinful attack” while the General Secretariat of the Arab Interior Ministers condemned the incident. Rehman Malik, the visiting Pakistani Interior Minister, expressed his concern and anguish over the attack on Prince Muhammad. Malik arrived in Jeddah Saturday from London. Meanwhile, Sheikh Dr. Saleh Bin Abdullah Bin Humaid, Imam and Khateeb of the Grand Mosque in Makkah, said security is a bounty from Allah and this was clearly proved in the providential escape of Prince Muhammad. In his Friday sermon at the Grand Mosque, Bin Humaid said, “The unjust people tried to harm him and affect his pride and resolve but Allah saved him and the unjust people and aggressors lost.” Bin Humaid said the terrorist did not target Prince Muhammad alone but all those who are “fighting the abhorrent ways of the followers of deviant ideology.” The attack, he said, exposes the floundering and bankrupt ideology of the deviant group.
