The terrorist attacks on Saudi Arabia May 12 are evil and unforgivable crimes. I send my deepest condolences on behalf of the people of Saudi Arabia to all of the American victims and their families and to the Saudi, European, Arab and Asian families. My government promises that we will not rest until, together, we hunt down these criminals and bring them to justice. And when we do, their punishment will be swift and severe.
No words can express our feelings for the loss of the innocent people who were murdered and injured. Those victims were Arabs, Americans, Europeans, and Asians. They were Muslims as well as Christians. The attack was an attack on humanity. We reject the terrorists who express their hatred for our people and our friends through such cowardly actions. These terrorists have turned their backs on our people and they have perverted our faith; they do not in any way represent Islam. They only represent hatred towards all of humanity. As a nation of peace, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will work to protect our citizens and our friends who live and work in our country, American, Arab, European, African or Asian, Muslim or non-Muslim; and we are determined to eradicate the terrorists who bring violence and hatred to the whole world, as Crown Prince Abdullah declared today.
The target of the Al-Qaeda terrorists is Saudi Arabia and the United States and the 70-year relationship that has benefited both our peoples; and at a time when we are working together to bring peace and stability to the people of the Middle East, their aim is to destroy our alliance through violence. But they will not succeed.
We say to the people of the United States, as your friend and ally, you can rely on us to do our part as we have done in critical times in the past. We will continue to hunt down the criminals, we will continue to cut off their finances and we will bring them to justice.
On this day, grief and pain weigh on our hearts. I pray that God Almighty continues to give us the wisdom and courage that will lead our nations and the world into a new era of peace and prosperity for all mankind, of all faiths.
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