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France says Remembrance Day blast in Saudi city Jeddah wounds several
France's Foreign Ministry said the attack had taken place at a ceremony in the Red Sea port city involving foreign embassies, and that an explosive device had been used. A Greek official told Reuters four people had been wounded.
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A picture shows the outside of a non-Muslim cemetery in the Saudi city of Jeddah where a bomb struck a World War I commemoration attended by European diplomats on Wednesday. (AFP/Str)
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bomb attack on a World War One remembrance ceremony in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah wounded several people on Wednesday, France said, urging its citizens living in the conservative kingdom to exercise maximum vigilance.
France's Foreign Ministry said the attack had taken place at a ceremony in the Red Sea port city involving foreign embassies, and that an explosive device had been used. A Greek official told Reuters four people had been wounded.
"There was some sort of a blast at the non-Muslim cemetery in Jeddah. There are four slightly injured, among them one Greek," the Greek official told Reuters, declining to named.
"The embassies that were involved in the commemoration ceremony condemn this cowardly attack, which is completely unjustified," a French Foreign Ministry statement said.
"They call on the Saudi authorities to shed as much light as they can on this attack, and to identify and hunt down the perpetrators."
The French consulate in Jeddah, in a statement seen by Reuters, urged its nationals in Saudi Arabia to exercise "maximum vigilance" following the attack.
"In particular, exercise discretion, stay away from all gatherings and be cautious when moving around," said the statement, which was emailed to French residents in Jeddah. The statement said only two people had been injured.
A source with knowledge of the matter said the attack happened early on Wednesday when several diplomatic delegations from the European Union and other countries were present at a Remembrance Day event organized by the French Embassy.
The Saudi government communications office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The explosion was the second security incident to take place in Jeddah in the last couple of weeks.
On Oct. 29 a Saudi man was arrested after attacking and wounding a security guard at the French consulate there.
It followed the beheading earlier in October near Paris of a French school teacher by a man of Chechen origin who had said he wanted to punish the teacher for showing pupils cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad in a civics lesson.
