Saudi embassy shooting in The Hague had terrorist motives

“Terrorist” motives were behind the shooting of the Saudi Arabia’s embassy in The Hague last week, Dutch prosecutors said on Monday.

A 40-year-old suspect arrested on the day the embassy was sprayed with gunfire appeared on Monday before an investigating magistrate. He was remanded in custody for a further 14 days as investigations continue.

Nobody was injured in the early morning shooting on Thursday that left the white facade and several windows of the embassy riddled with bullet holes.

Prosecutors said the man, whose identity was not released, is suspected of crimes “with a terrorist motive” including attempted murder or manslaughter of an embassy guard and “violence towards the building of an internationally protected person”.

The terrorist motive “is evident from the fact that the suspect appears to want to impose his will on the embassy”, prosecutors said. The suspect, they said, had previously been handed a fine for defacing the building.

The embassy last week condemned the attack and urged its citizens in the Netherlands to exercise caution.

The Dutch foreign ministry said that it was taking the shooting “extremely seriously” and was in close contact with Saudi authorities.

Source: The National News