Saudi Arabia releases photo of mosque suicide bomber...

The perpetrator of the Friday bomb attack on Al Ridha Mosque in Al Ahsa in the Eastern Province has been identified as Abdul Rahman Bin Abdullah Bin Sulaiman Al Tuwaijri, a 22-year-old Saudi national. The interior ministry said on Saturday, January 30, said that the attacker who bombed the mosque in Al Mahasin neighbourhood had been arrested two years ago for taking part in a rally to call for the release of detainees.


A second suicide bomber was arrested during the attack and he is being treated for wounds, the ministry said, adding that details about his identity will be revealed later.

The statement said that four Saudi citizens were killed and 33 were injured in the attack. Three security servicemen were also wounded.

"So far, 19 of the injured citizens have left the hospital following their treatment whereas the other 14 and the three policemen are still being treated," the ministry said.

The security forces will continue their efforts to identify and track down all those involved in the attack through planning, execution, support and direct or indirect incitement," the ministry pledged.

During a visit to the injured at the hospital, Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Nayef Bin Abdul Aziz expressed national resolve to address terrorism.

"What happened on Friday will only reinforce our determination to root out terrorists," he said. "They are serving a specific agenda, but thank God, we are reversing their objectives," Prince Mohammad, also Saudi Arabia's interior minister, said.

According to a Saudi report, the suicide bomber's father did not notice any change in his son's attitudes when they were together on Thursday, hours before the deadly attack widely condemned in Saudi Arabia and well beyond.

"There was nothing peculiar or strange about him, and he was such a devoted and obedient son," he said, Al Arabiya news site reported. "When we talked on Thursday, there was no indication to what was going to happen on Friday. The other man implicated with him in the attack is close to him and they often did things together," he said.

The father added that his son worked in a restaurant and attended courses at a community college:

"I am sure my son has been subjected to a magical act. I do not know how they reached him, especially that he rarely left the house and never mingled with suspicious people. He never left Saudi Arabia and he does not even have a passport. I do not know how my son has been charged" he said.