The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs has directed its diplomats abroad not to wear Saudi national dress in public places or to go out late at night, according to sources. The directives to its diplomats abroad include instructions not to wear the Saudi national dress on the streets and in public places, except during official ceremonies or in the place of work, besides making it obligatory for heads of missions to report the names of staff who do not comply with these directives, said the sources. The ministry has also advised diplomatic staff to be cautious, not to go out late at night and to contact the heads of missions if they are threatened or notice anything suspicious like being followed by vehicles or persons. The directive comes after the assassination of Saudi diplomat Khalaf Bin Muhammad Salim Al-Ali in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka last Tuesday. A number of countries including Jordan, Bahrain and the UAE have offered the condolences of their leaders to King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, for the diplomat's assassination. Meanwhile, a special aircraft of the Saudi government left Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka for King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh Thursday with the body of Khalaf Al-Ali, who was serving as Second Secretary at the Saudi Embassy in Dhaka. Police handed over the body to Mohammad Jashim Uddin Sarker, legal advisor to the Saudi embassy, from the Dhaka Medical College and Hospital morgue around 1:45 P.M. Bangladesh time. Sarker told reporters that the body was brought to Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport and then a funeral prayer was held in the mosque adjacent to the VIP Lounge of the airport. Asked about the progress in the investigation into the case, the legal advisor expressed his inability to say anything about the probe. But he added it was a “sensitive” as well as a “national issue”. “The image of a country depends on it.” Al-Ali, 45, an official with the consular section of the embassy, was shot by unknown gunmen near his Gulshan house in the early hours of Tuesday. He died around 5 A.M. at the city's United Hospital. The forensic report said a single bullet pierced the left part of Al-Ali's chest and hit his kidney and he died of excessive bleeding. Gulshan police Wednesday filed a case against unknown miscreants. State Minister for Home Affairs Shamsul Hoque Tuku said police were investigating the murder. The Bangladeshi daily Baltaz said Wednesday that criminal affairs analysts in the country have leveled an accusation at the Iranian Embassy in Bangladesh.
