Tight security paid off: bomber could have caused massive loss

JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia on Tuesday identified the suicide bomber who struck outside the US Consulate in Jeddah as a Pakistani resident of the Kingdom who arrived 12 years ago to work as a driver.
An Interior Ministry statement identified the man as 34-year-old Abdullah Gulzar Khan. It said he lived in Jeddah with “his wife and her parents.”
It said the attacker in the Madinah attack set off the bomb in a parking lot after security officers raised suspicions about him.
The attack in Qatif did not appear to cause any injuries. The ministry said it was working to identify the remains of three bodies at the site of blast, suggesting there may have been three attackers.
Brig. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki, spokesman for the ministry, said security officer’s alertness paid off in Jeddah as the attack site is surrounded by businesses and commercial shops visited by a large number of people.
He said the security officers’ vigilance made them suspicious of the attacker’s movements and confusion. Their training and qualification enabled them to deal with the situation instantly and successfully, greatly contributing to limiting the amount of damage that could have been inflicted on pedestrians, hospital patients and visitors, and the nearby mosque.
Al-Turki also said that the terrorist blew himself up with the intention of harming the security personnel. At no point, though, was there any interaction between him and the officers, he said.
“After he blew himself up, the security officers discovered that the belt failed to explode fully. Further investigation at the site by security officers yielded more explosive charges. They handled them without any harm to any security member,” Al-Turki said.