ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — A Saudi Arabian diplomat was killed on Monday in the volatile southern port city of Karachi, police officials said.
The diplomat, identified as Hassan M. al-Kahtani, was shot by gunmen riding two motorcycles who intercepted his vehicle after he left his home in an upscale neighborhood, the officials said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
“He was shot in the head and died on the spot,” said a police officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Police officials said they were investigating motives and did not rule out the possibility that the killing might have been retribution for the May 2 killing of Osama bin Laden by Navy Seal commandos in the military garrison town of Abbottabad, a few hours’ drive from Islamabad, the capital.
Saudi Arabia’s rulers have long expressed their antipathy toward Bin Laden, the Al Qaeda leader and plotter of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, who came from a wealthy Saudi family.
Officials said the attack on the Saudi diplomat might also have been related to Saudi Arabia’s effort to suppress antigovernment protests in Bahrain. Two months ago Saudi Arabia deployed forces in Bahrain, its smaller neighbor, to help the Sunni-minority rulers there suppress demonstrations by members of the Shiite majority.
Last Wednesday, unidentified assailants threw firecrackers at the Saudi Consulate, but there were no injuries.
A Pakistani security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Saudi diplomat was an intelligence official.
“He was looking into Saudi dissidents who have found refuge in the city, and this is most probably why he was targeted,” the official said.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have traditionally been close allies, and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, the political party that controls Karachi, described the killing as an effort to destabilize relations between the two.
Karachi, considered Pakistan’s financial and commercial hub, is a city torn by political and sectarian unrest.
Ikram Sehgal, a defense analyst based in Karachi, said the attack would not affect relations between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.
He also said the killing underlined the fragile security situation there.
“There are several militant groups that are acting independently in the city,” Mr. Sehgal said. “There are a lot of soft targets.”
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