JEDDAH, 13 July — The Interior Ministry said yesterday that an armed Saudi who intruded into the Qatari Consulate here Thursday before giving himself up to police had previously been jailed on drug charges.
"Saud ibn Dhaeef ibn Bustan Al-Shammary, 38, was jailed for drug-related offenses in the past" and was convicted on various charges at the time, said an official source at the ministry.
"Interrogations are not over yet, and the man has given incoherent answers. He will be examined by a psychiatrist to assess his mental health condition before investigation is completed," the official said.
Consul General Ibrahim Al-Maqiseeb told Al-Watan newspaper that he had not spoken to the intruder during his presence in the consulate.
However, he said the man had demanded that he wanted to go to Qatar. "He did not cause any harm to anybody," the consul said, adding that the Saudi intruder left with the police without offering any resistance.
The Interior Ministry official said Shammary drove up to the Qatari Consulate as Maqiseeb was hosting a luncheon. When the Eritrean guard realized the man was not a guest, he called the police department in charge of consular security.
Security personnel dispatched to the mission managed to "control the man quietly. An automatic weapon was found in his car," the source added.
The Qatari consul was quoted by the Kuwaiti news agency KUNA as saying the man "did not appear to be affiliated to any particular group".
