Saudis distance themselves from US naval base shooter

Saudi Arabia sought to distance itself Saturday from a student who carried out a fatal shooting at an American naval base, as it seeks to repair its image of being an exporter of Islamic extremism.

The Saudi military student reportedly condemned the US as a "nation of evil" before going on a rampage Friday at Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida, killing three people and wounding eight.

The shooting marks a setback in the kingdom's efforts to shrug off its longstanding reputation for promoting religious extremism after the September 11, 2001 attacks in which 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudis.

The hashtag "Saudis stand with America" gained traction on social media after King Salman telephoned President Donald Trump to denounce the shooting as "heinous" and pledge cooperation with American officials to investigate the incident.

The king added in the phone call on Friday that the shooter, who was gunned down by police, "does not represent the Saudi people", a sentiment echoed by other officials.

"Like many other Saudi military personnel, I was trained in a US military base, and we used that valuable training to fight side by side with our American allies against terrorism and other threats," Prince Khalid bin Salman, the king's younger son and the deputy defence minister, said on Twitter.

"A large number of Saudi graduates of the Naval Air Station in Pensacola moved on to serve with their US counterparts in battlefronts around the world, helping to safeguard the regional and global security. (The) tragic event is strongly condemned by everyone in Saudi Arabia."
Saudis citizens strongly rejected the view on social media, with one Twitter use saying: "The government of Saudi Arabia is not responsible for every single individual with a Saudi passport."