Gunmen kill Saudi diplomat in Pakistan’s Karachi

KARACHI/ISLAMABAD, (Reuters) – Gunmen on motorcycles  shot and killed a Saudi diplomat in the Pakistani city of  Karachi today, police and the Saudi ambassador said, the  second attack on the mission since the killing of Osama bin  Laden increased tension in the region.
Pakistan’s Taliban claimed responsibility, and warned the  United States against attacking its close ally al Qaeda.
Al Qaeda has waged a bloody campaign to topple the royal  family and government of Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of its  leader bin Laden. The group has also vowed to avenge his killing  by U.S. special forces in a Pakistani military town on May 2.
Four people riding motorcycles opened fire on the Saudi  diplomat’s car, a Karachi police official said. The diplomat, a  low ranking security official, was on his way to the consulate  when the assailants struck.
Pakistan’s interior minister condemned the attack and  ordered Karachi authorities to provide “complete security” to  Saudi nationals stationed in the city, where analyst say  militants generate funds through extortion and robberies.
“We condemn this attack. No one who carries out this kind of  attack can be a Muslim,” the Saudi ambassador, Abdul Aziz  al-Ghadeer, told Reuters. Four bullets were fired and one struck  the diplomat in the head, said senior Karachi police official  Iqbal Mehmood.
The Saudi state news agency named the diplomat as Hassan  al-Qahtani and described his killing as a “criminal attack”. It  said Saudi officials would investigate the shooting alongside  the Pakistani authorities.
The shooting, which a Saudi embassy official said occurred  about 60 metres (200 feet) from the consulate, came days after  unidentified attackers threw two hand grenades at the consulate  in Pakistan’s commercial hub. No one was hurt in that attack.
Saudi Arabia, one of the United States’ most strategic  allies, is the world biggest oil exporter and any signs that its  security is threatened could move global oil prices.
A Saudi Interior Ministry official, who declined to be  identified, told Reuters in Dubai that security would be stepped  up to protect Saudi diplomats living in “dangerous” areas.