JEDDAH, 19 May 2006 — The murder of a Saudi woman worker at a health center in Riyadh recently has prompted calls for beefing up security at all the health centers in the region.
A local Arabic newspaper quoted an official at the Riyadh’s Health Affairs Department as saying yesterday the ministries of health and finance should allocate more funds to beef up security at all health centers in the region.
Abdul Aziz Al-Dukhayyil, director of health affairs in Riyadh region, said last week’s murder at the Al-Marwa Health Center in Shifa District was carried out in a matter of minutes.
He said the crime occurred because the building was easily accessible. He also said that security men at health centers were not able to confront possible armed attackers, such as the knife-wielding man who committed the murder.
Arab News recently reported the murder of a woman who was killed by her former husband while the incident was witnessed by many workers at the health center.
The relatives of the women said she was murdered because police did not take precautionary measures even though she had informed them that her ex-husband had threatened to kill her.
