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Saudis arrest suspect in German diplomats' attack

December 12, 2014

Saudi authorities have arrested a suspect in connection with an attack on a car carrying German diplomats almost a year ago. The two Germans escaped unharmed.

https://p.dw.com/p/1E3Ps
Flagge Saudi Arabien
Image: Fotolia/Marcel Schauer

The Saudi Interior Ministry announced on Friday that a man suspected of having opened fire on the Germans' car in the east of the country had been arrested.

It said the suspect was taken into custody after being wounded in a gun battle with police on Thursday evening. Two others were also arrested.

The ministry said the suspect, identified as Salem bin Abdullah bin Hussein, was wanted in connection not just with the shooting but also a number of other crimes, including other shootings, armed robbery and threatening the security of local residents.

Back in March, Saudi officials announced that they had arrested two other suspects in the attack on the German diplomats' car.

The attack occurred in the mainly Shiite town of Al-Awamiya in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province on January 13.

Al-Awamiya has been the site of a number of protests by minority Shiites against the authorities made up of Sunni Muslims who form the majority of the population in the kingdom.

At the time of the attack, German officials said the saw no reason to believe the attack on the diplomats was politically motivated.

pfd/sms (AFP, dpa)