King Salman leads Saudi official condemnations of Florida attack

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia's King Salman called US President Donald J. Trump Friday night to express his deep sorrow and grief over the Florida shooting of a number of American citizens by a Saudi student.

"The king extended his sincere condolences and sympathies to the President and to the families of the victims, wishing a speedy recovery to the wounded," the Saudi Press Agency reported.

"The king also affirmed that the perpetrator of this heinous crime does not represent the Saudi people who respect and appreciate the American people," the report said.

King Salman also assured President Trump of Saudi Arabia's support to the US and told him that directives had been issued to Saudi security agencies to fully cooperate with the US security agencies in their investigations to get to the bottom of the incident.

Adel Al-Jubeir, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs said: “My deepest sympathies and heartfelt condolences go out to the American people, and to the families of those effected by the tragedy that unfolded at Pensacola."

Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to the US Princess Reema bint Bandar said her thoughts are with the families of those effected by the shooting.

Prince Faisal bin Farhan, the foreign minister, described the shooting as a "heinous crime."

"The Kingdom expresses its deepest condolences to the families of victims, and to the American people. We salute the bravery of those who neutralized the threat and saved lives," he said.

Deputy Minister of Defence Prince Khalid bin Salman also extended his condolences to those effected.

He said that like many Saudi military personnel he was trained in a US military base.
“We used that valuable training to fight side by side with our American allies against terrorism and other threats,” Prince Khalid said on Twitter.

“A large number of Saudi graduates of the Naval Air Station in Pensacola moved on to serve with their U.S counterparts in battlefronts around the world, helping to safeguard regional and global security. Today's tragic event is strongly condemned by everyone in Saudi Arabia."