RIYADH/KUWAIT, 12 October — A Canadian man was shot dead and his Filipino wife was wounded on Wednesday by an assailant said to be a Pakistani.
Luc Ethier, 36, who died on the spot after being hit by three bullets, worked as a civilian aircraft engineer for the US defense contracting company Dyncorp in the emirate’s Ahmed Al-Jaber air base.
His wife was also hit with three bullets and is currently recovering in Al-Adan Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit.
She saw the attacker and described him as Pakistani in appearance wearing a shirt and trousers and an Arab-type headscarf.
Security sources said the man’s wife was in a stable condition in hospital with three gunshot wounds.
The United States Embassy in Kuwait yesterday updated a warning to US citizens to exercise the “highest vigilance”.
“We urge American citizens to limit their movements, maintain a low profile, and remain alert to their surroundings,” the message said.
In Riyadh, a German national, his wife and two children escaped unhurt last night after being attacked while driving back to their Najd Residential Compound in Riyadh, a Western diplomat here confirmed yesterday.
Saudi police, who had rushed to the scene of the crime immediately after they received the information, also afterward acknowledged that the incident had taken place.
The diplomat stated that a man had hurled a burning bottle, probably filled with acid, at the car as it slowed to exit a busy road in Riyadh.
Saudi police reached to the scene a few minutes later, where they found two dark patches on the road, which had apparently been caused by the acid.
The Western diplomat added that the German Embassy, which has advised its nationals to take maximum security precautions in light of this incident, is closely working with the Saudi police in its investigation.
On arriving at the crime scene, the police cordoned off the area and took photographs, and later took away for examination glass fragments thought to have been part of the thrown bottle.
The German Embassy has updated its security advisory on its web page, which now tells Germans not to go out in public places. It has also warned its citizens to exercise vigilance regarding their personal security, and generally to keep a much lower profile than before.
Asked about how European embassies are working with Saudi officials to unify their position on a range of security issues, another European diplomat, who preferred not to be named, said that ambassadors of the European countries in Saudi Arabia would be holding a meeting to assess security.
He remarked that “the ambassadors will take stock of the situation in the wake of two incidents, one in which a bomb exploded in Alkhobar and the latest in which German citizens were targeted.”
However, diplomats are generally agreed that security here in the Kingdom is better than in other Gulf countries.
It is estimated that there are over 40,000 Europeans currently living and working in Saudi Arabia.
In Jakarta, a hard-line group protesting the US-led attacks on Afghanistan said it had started searching for Americans and Britons to intimidate them into leaving Indonesia, adds AFP.
And at the heavily-guarded US Embassy, about 1,000 protesters shouting “Destroy America” rallied for the fourth straight day to denounce the air attacks.
Police said they would deply some 2,800 officers in expectation of big protests today.
