French consulate guard injured in stabbing attack in Saudi Arabia
The French embassy in Riyadh urged French nationals in Saudi Arabia to exercise "utmost caution and vigilance."
A Saudi man has been arrested after he stabbed and slightly injured a guard at the French consulate in Saudi Arabia, the state news agency SPA reported, citing a security official.
The assailant, in his forties, used a sharp tool in the attack on the guard at the French consulate in the Saudi Red Sea city of Jeddah, local police spokesman Mohammed al-Ghamdi said.
The guard was transferred to hospital, the official said without giving further details.
The motive for the attack is not clear.
The French embassy in Riyadh said the victim is an employee at a private security company and his health condition is "not worrying."
The mission did not specify the guard's nationality.
Mohammed cartoons
"The French embassy vehemently condemns this heinous attack against a diplomatic institution and emphasizes its complete support for the victim," it said in a Twitter statement.
The embassy urged French nationals in Saudi Arabia to exercise "utmost caution and vigilance."
The attack comes after a number of Muslim countries including Saudi Arabia expressed rage over the French defense of publishing cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed.
The cartoons originally appeared in French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. Depiction or representation of prophets is strictly prohibited in Islam.