SAUDI Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman pledged yesterday to strike extremists with an “iron fist”, after a bombing against a gathering of Western diplomats was claimed by the Islamic State group.

The bomb blast struck a World War I commemoration at a non-Muslim cemetery in Jeddah on Wednesday, just two weeks after a guard at the French consulate in the Red Sea city was wounded by a knife-wielding Saudi citizen.

The attacks, which underscore Muslim fury over French satirical cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, come as Saudi Arabia prepares for the G20 leaders’ summit later this month – the first to be hosted by an Arab nation.

“We will continue to confront any extremist… behaviour and ideas,” Mohammed said in an address to the Shura Council, the top government advisory body.

“We will continue to strike with an iron fist against all those who want to harm our security and stability,” he said, according to the transcript of his speech published by the official Saudi Press Agency.

Mohammed, the kingdom’s de facto ruler, warned those seeking to carry out jihadist acts of a “painful and severe punishment”.

Wednesday’s attack in Jeddah left at least two people wounded, including a Greek policeman and a Saudi official.

A British citizen was also believed to have been wounded.

Diplomats from France, Greece, Italy, Britain and the United States attended the Armistice Day commemoration ceremony in Jeddah, their embassies said.

The Islamic State group yesterday claimed responsibility for the bombing, saying it was to protest the cartoons printed by the satirical French magazine Charlie Hebdo.

A statement by IS’s propaganda arm Amaq said the attack “primarily targeted the French consul”.

The group offered no evidence of its involvement. – AFP, November 13, 2020.