Three persons have been arrested in connection with the killing of four Saudi tourists in Niger's southwest desert region of Tillaberi. All the dead were from a single family of the Aal Murrah tribe, sources said Tuesday. The sources named one of the two Saudis injured as Ziyad Bin Abdullah Aal Al-Sheikh, the eldest son of former head of General Security Abdullah Aal Al-Sheikh. Al-Sheikh's injuries, resulting from a bullet wound in the thigh, were described as minor. The Charge d'affaires at the Niger Embassy here, Umru Tahiru, said that it was not yet known whether the perpetrators, who shot at their victims as they performed dawn prayers, were carrying out an act of terrorism. Another hypothesis is that it was motivated by robbery, with the attackers having taken all their victims' possessions and belongings. “Security forces and investigators are working on all angles to capture the perpetrators,” Tahiru said. “The Saudi tourists were heading toward Mali in a region called Tillaberi around 100 to 150 km from Niamey, which is a region bordering Mali and is considered safe.” Tahiru said that no further information was available concerning the three persons traveling by car at the border with Mali who were detained in connection with the incident. “They haven't been presented with any formal charges,” he added. The Saudi embassy media director Osama Nuqali, speaking on behalf of the foreign ministry, said the ministry had received no information concerning investigations by authorities in Niger. Prince Saud Al-Faisal, Foreign Minister, meanwhile, has instructed the Saudi embassy in Niger to handle the return of the four bodies and two injured to the Kingdom via air ambulances ordered by King Abdullah. The first air ambulance arrived in the Kingdom late Tuesday. ‘Experienced hunter'The wife of Ziyad Bin Abdullah Aal Al-Sheikh, one of the two Saudis injured in the attack, said her husband had spoken to her by telephone after the incident in order to reassure her of his condition. “He said they were praying when a hail of bullets suddenly descended upon them,” said Sara Bint Ahmad Aal Al-Sheikh. According to Sara, her husband had been a frequent visitor to the area over the past seven years to pursue his two-decades-long passion for hunting, and often went accompanied by guard vehicles. “Some friends of his from the Emirates called him before he went on this trip to warn him about the security situation, and he had thought of taking along guards,” she said. According to another member of the family, Ziyad was on a two-week hunting trip that began ten days ago.
