Gunmen on motorcycles attacked a car belonging to the Saudi Arabian consulate in the Pakistani city of Karachi today killing a Saudi diplomat, police and the Saudi ambassador said.
The shooting occurred days after unidentified attackers threw two hand grenades at the Saudi consulate in the city, Pakistan's commercial hub. No one was hurt in that attack.
"We condemn this attack. No one who carries out this kind of attack can be a Muslim," the ambassador, Abdul Aziz al-Ghadeer said. He did not give details on the rank of the diplomat who was killed.
It is too early to determine who was behind the attack, the ambassador said, but he suggested "terrorists", a reference to Muslim militant groups such as al-Qaeda, carried it out.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have long been close allies.
Al-Qaeda is violently opposed to the Saudi government and has vowed revenge for the killing of its leader, Saudi-born Osama bin Laden, by US special forces in Pakistan on May 2nd.
"We trust the Pakistani authorities and hope they will identify the terrorists and bring them to justice," Mr Ghadeer said. "The authorities in Karachi are working very hard and we trust them. We are working together. We trust Pakistan will do its best to ensure the terrorists are caught and identified."
Saudi Arabia is the world's biggest oil exporter and any signs that its security is threatened could move global oil prices.
"There is no immediate impact of the shooting on the market and there is unlikely to be one unless the victim turns out to be someone important," a Singapore-based Western crude trader said about the attack in Karachi.
Four people riding motorcycles opened fire on the Saudi diplomat's car, a Karachi police official said.
"The Saudi national killed was himself driving the car and was probably going to the consulate from his house."
Militants swearing allegiance to al-Qaeda attacked Western targets, government sites and oil facilities in Saudi Arabia, one of Washington's most strategic allies, between 2003 and 2006.
The operations included suicide bombings at Western housing compounds, the Saudi interior ministry headquarters in the capital Riyadh and petrochemicals companies.
In 2006, there was an attempt to storm the world's biggest oil processing plant in the kingdom.
Pakistan's commitment to fighting militancy was questioned after it was discovered that bin Laden was living in a garrison town close to the capital - by some accounts for five years - before his death.
Reuters