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Saudis Detain Several Suspects Over Anti-British Bombings
RIYADH (AFP) - Several suspects, including an American national, have been detained as suspects in two anti-British bombings that occurred in November, the Saudi interior ministry said in a statement published Friday.
"The American Michael Sedlak and several other suspects are currently being held and interrogated," by the Saudi authorities, the ministry said in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency.
The U.S. embassy was informed of Sedlak's arrest and was allowed to see him, said the statement, attributed to a ministry spokesman.
The identity of the other suspects was not revealed.
Christopher Rodway, a 47-year-old British national working at a military hospital in Riyadh, was killed, and his wife, Jane, injured in the first car bomb attack on November 17th.
Three other Britons were injured in a similar attack on November 23rd.
The Foreign Office in London has said the motives of the two attacks were unclear, although it was "possible" they were linked.
No group has claimed responsibility.
Saudi Deputy Interior Minister Ahmad ibn Abdel Aziz said on Thursday there was "proof" implicating Sedlak in the November 17th bombing.
"If further investigations confirmed his role in the incidents, he will be sent to the Sharia’ court and tried in accordance with the Sharia’ law," Prince Ahmad said in reference to Islamic law.
Saudi Arabia, home of Islam's holiest places, applies a strict code of Sharia’ law, imposing the death penalty on people found guilty of murder, rape, apostasy, armed robbery, drug trafficking and repeated drug offences.
The U.S. embassy in Riyadh confirmed Wednesday the arrest of Sedlak, but a spokesman said there were no charges against him concerning the two bombings. A U.S. consular official visited him.
The Saudi daily Al-Iqtissadiya reported Thursday that there was a "financial dispute" between Sedlak and Rodway who owed the American large sums of money.
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