Bomber dies in blast near U.S. consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Police outside of the U.S. consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
(Image credit: Stringer/AFP/Getty Images)

A suicide bomber blew himself up about 33 feet from the wall of the U.S. consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, early Monday, the state-run Saudi Press Agency reported.

The bomber was the only person killed in the blast, although witnesses said two police officers appeared to have been injured. Officers became suspicious of the man as he roamed a parking lot, and he detonated the explosives when officers approached him. Al Qaeda-linked gunmen attacked the U.S. consulate in Jeddah in 2004, killing five employees.

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Harold Maass

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at TheWeek.com. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 launch of the U.S. print edition. Harold has worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, Fox News, and ABC News. For several years, he wrote a daily round-up of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance. He lives in North Carolina with his wife and two sons.