German couple attacked in Saudi Arabia

RIYADH, Oct 11 (Reuters) A man threw a Molotov cocktail at a German couple in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday in an incident believed related to heightened international tensions following last months attacks on the United States, diplomats said today.

The man and woman escaped unhurt, the diplomats said, but the episode in Riyadh has prompted the German embassy to advise Germans in the kingdom to tighten their personal security.

"A man wearing Saudi national dress threw a bottle with a burning liquid towards the couples car as they drove towards their compound just after sunset.

The man hit the brakes and the bottle hit the front of the car and broke on the other side of the street," one of the diplomats said.

The diplomats said they believed the incident was the first direct assault on westerners in the kingdom since the attacks on New York and Washington in which up to 5,600 people were killed.