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Man stabs guard at French Consulate in Saudi Arabia

The nonfatal attack came the same day as the murder of three people in Nice, France, as tensions soar between France and much of the Muslim world.

A picture taken from a distance shows the French consulate in the Saudi Red Sea port of Jeddah on October 29, 2020. - A Saudi citizen wounded a guard in a knife attack at the French consulate in Jeddah today, officials said, as France faces growing anger over satirical cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed. The assault follows another knife attack at a church in the French city of Nice that left three people dead and several others wounded, in what authorities are treating as the latest jihadist attack to rock t
A picture taken from a distance shows the French Consulate in the Saudi Red Sea port of Jeddah, where a Saudi citizen wounded a guard in a knife attack on Oct. 29, 2020. — MOHAMMED AHMED/AFP via Getty Images

A Saudi man attacked the French Consulate in Jeddah Thursday as the conflict over freedom of expression and religion continues between France and the Muslim world.

The Saudi perpetrator was arrested in the Red Sea city after stabbing a security guard at the consulate. The guard was wounded in the ordeal, Reuters reported.

In the French city of Nice, another attacker killed three people with a knife in a church, beheading one of the victims. The assailant shouted “God is great” in Arabic before being arrested, according to the state-owned France 24 news outlet.

The tensions involving France and some Muslims began earlier this month, when a student in France beheaded a schoolteacher named Samuel Paty. The late teacher had shown images of Islam's Prophet Muhammad during a lesson on freedom of expression. Many Muslims consider images of the prophet extremely offensive.

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