Mosque attack pained us all: King Salman

RIYADH: Saudi King Salman pledged on Sunday that they were pained at the heinous crime of suicide bombing inside a mosque and anyone linked to the killing of 21 Shias would face justice.
Salman expressed the pledge in a telegram to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, who is also the interior minister.“Anyone taking part, planning, supporting, cooperating or sympathising with this heinous crime will be held accountable, and will be subjected to legal accountability. He will receive the deserved punishment,” the king said in the message carried by the official Saudi Press Agency.
More than 100 people were also wounded when a Saudi suicide bomber detonated explosives inside a mosque in the Shia majority Qatif district of Eastern Province on Friday.The interior ministry said the suicide bomber belonged to a cell of which 26 members had been arrested.
Meanwhile, the Saudi Shias are angry and grief-stricken but refused to be provoked by a deadly mosque bombing that authorities called an attempt to promote sectarian strife.The interior ministry confirmed the identity of the suicide bomber and said he had links with the Islamic State jihadist group.
“No, no, no... There is no action” in the form of retaliation, a Shia resident, who said he lost three friends in the Kudeih village blast, said.“They just want justice.” Naseema Assada, a resident of Shia-majority Qatif city near the stricken village, said. She visited seven families affected by the attack.
“They are angry at Daesh and radical Sunnis,” but not at Sunnis in general, she said, using an Arabic acronym for IS.Residents said two children were among the dead, and plans were being made for a mass burial.Demonstrators took to the streets of the eastern region on Saturday to denounce the attack.
In neighbouring Bahrain, Shias marched in solidarity with the Saudi victims and clashed with riot police.The mosque bombing occurred despite security checkpoints in Qatif, residents said.“This is strange,” Assada said. “The government should protect people and if it’s not, this is the government’s fault.”
Such emotions are natural after a deadly incident but police have foiled many plots and have themselves become the most frequent targets of “terrorist” attacks, Interior Ministry spokesman General Mansour al-Turki told reporters on Sunday.
“We did not have any information or evidence that they were about to carry out a terrorist attack in any mosque anywhere in the kingdom,” Turki said.In a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) late Saturday, the interior ministry identified the bomber as Salih bin Abdulrahman Salih al-Ghishaami, a Saudi national.
“He was wanted by security services for belonging to a terrorist cell receiving directions from Daesh abroad,” the ministry said.The militant group had already claimed Friday’s attack but identified the bomber as Abu Amer al-Najdi.
“The cell was discovered last month, and so far 26 of its members, all Saudi nationals, have been arrested,” the interior ministry said, raising the number of wounded from 81 to 101.Ministry officials alleged the cell leader is Abdel Malik, who recruited relatives and friends and taught them how to use weapons.
In a telegram to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, who is also the interior minister, King Salman pledged the perpetrators would be brought to justice.“Anyone taking part, planning, supporting, cooperating or sympathising with this heinous crime will be held accountable,” the king said in the message carried by SPA.
“We were... pained by the intensity of this terrorist crime that contradicts the values of Islam and humanity” and which targeted innocent civilians, he added.It is the second mass killing of Shias in the kingdom since late last year. In November, gunmen killed seven Shias in the Eastern Province town of Al-Dalwa.