Gunmen wearing suicide vests attacked two mosques belonging to a minority sect in the northeastern city of Lahore, killing dozens of people.

"Such terrorist acts should be condemned in the strongest possible terms," said Khaled Al-Ghamdi, member of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Pakistan Journalists Forum Chairman Amir Mohammed Khan said what had been happening in Pakistan, including the latest Lahore attacks, was unfortunate. "The series of attacks only exposes the fact that the country has no organized internal security system."

Jeddah-based Pakistan Repatriation Council Convener Syed Ehsanul Haq said what happened in Lahore has to be severely condemned. Islam does not allow the killing of innocent people and certainly not at places of worship. It is the bounden duty of the Islamic state (Pakistan) to provide protection to its nationals, irrespective of religious affiliations.

Shahid Haider, general manager of a Jeddah-based advertising company, said the latest attacks should raise security concerns across the country. "This is highly condemnable," he said and emphasized the need for religious harmony.

Faiz Al Najdi, chief structural engineer of a company in Riyadh, said the attacks were shocking and it was unfortunate that such tragedies were becoming the order of the day due to the "negligence of the Pakistani government. "Religious scholars try to create hatred toward minorities, which lead to such events," Najdi said, adding that the electronic and print media are also to be blamed since they provide extensive coverage for the activities of the rebels.

"This is an act of maniacs who have the least respect for human life," Ghulam Haider, maintenance engineer at a private establishment in the capital, said. Haider, who hails from Karachi, severely condemned all forms of terror. "Violence cannot be met with violence in a civilized society," he said, adding that peaceful negotiations can bring better results.

In the Eastern Province, Alkhobar-based Pakistani businessman Mohammed Yunas Qazi termed the Lahore carnage as a failure on the part of the intelligence agencies. "They have not been able to pinpoint and take out the people responsible for such acts of sabotage. We all know foreign elements are behind the recent upheaval in our country. But then it is a fact that some of our own people are being used by the foreign agencies. The sad reality is that Pakistani people are horribly divided. The politicians are divided and so are the religious people. There are too many divisions as a result of which it has become easy for our enemies to exploit our differences and create havoc in our country. So, foreign elements are to blame but our people are equally to blame for this sad state of affairs," said Qazi who hails from Lahore.

Mohammed Asim, a high school student from Jubail whose parents also come from Lahore, said: "We Pakistanis are peace loving people. We want to live in peace. We respect our minorities. They have been living in our country for decades. They have complete freedom and they have their representation in Parliament. It is obvious that outside forces are behind these acts of violence. Pakistanis know what is in their country's interests. They will never commit such horrible acts. Pakistanis are Muslims first and Muslims last, and Islam teaches respect for other religions. Those who are doing these are the enemies of Pakistan. We will see the back of them soon. Politicians maybe divided, but our countrymen are not. We are united and we will ensure that Pakistan remains a responsible and tolerant country as it has been all this while."