No casualty at gunfire incident at Saudi embassy in Netherlands, suspect caught

The Saudi Arabian embassy in the Hague confirmed that there had been no casualties in the shooting incident that occurred early Thursday. The Dutch police arrested a suspect about eight hours after the incident. The embassy described the shooting as a 'cowardly attack' and urged the citizens in Netherlands to be cautious, in a statement by the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

Spokesman Steven van Santen told AFP that the police were alerted around 6 am to shots being fired at the building by the embassy's security officers. While the 40-year-old suspect was arrested in Zoetermeer, a forensic examination is ongoing regarding the bullet holes and the bullets.

The Government of Saudi Arabia condemned the attack, and expressed gratitude to the Dutch authorities for their swift response to the incident. The embassy notified Saudi citizens to seek the embassy's assistance whenever required.

The incident occurred a day after an explosion at a World War commemoration ceremony involving foreign embassies of France, Greece, Italy, Britain and the United States in the Saudi city of Jeddah, which wounded several people.

(Reported by Haifa Muneer)