Prominent Saudi Scholar Injured in Philippine Shooting
SAEED AL KHOTANI
RIYADH: Ayed Al-Qarni, a prominent Saudi religious scholar, was shot and wounded in the arm on Tuesday in the Philippine city of Zamboanga while delivering a lecture at the city’s university.
Al-Qarni, a pro-government scholar with over 12 million followers on Twitter, was shot as he left a religious forum at a school auditorium at around 8:30 p.m. by a man who had attended the speech, police spokeswoman Senior Inspector Helen Galvez said.
An official from the Saudi embassy in the Philippines was also wounded.
The gunman, who was not immediately identified, was then shot dead by Al-Qarni’s security escort, she said.
She said Al-Qarni was in a stable condition in Zamboanga City hospital and did not have life threatening injuries.
“He is out of danger. We are still investigating the motive for the attack,” she said.
Saudi Ambassador to the Philippines Abdullah bin Nasir Al-Busairi, visited the scholar at the hospital and ordered a plane to take him to Manila for further treatment.
A probe was underway, he was quoted as saying by SPA.
There have been contradicting reports about the attacks, with some saying that five of his companions were killed.
Some Filipino scholars were quoted as saying that the attack was carried out by Iranian-backed agents in the Philippines.
Al-Qarni, 57, has a massive following in the Kingdom and Muslim communities around the world.
He is an author of several influential books including the best seller self-help book La Tahzan (Don’t Be Sad), with millions of copies sold in Arab countries.
Zamboanga, where Al-Qarni was shot, is a highly urbanized city located in the mostly Muslim Mindanao region.