Bomb Kills 6 at Saudi Arabian Mosque : Mideast: Blast during midday prayers injures more than 100. Authorities reportedly have identified suspect.

Six people were killed and more than 100 injured when a bomb exploded at a village mosque Friday, the official Saudi Press Agency reported Saturday.

About 500 worshipers were inside the mosque when the blast occurred during midday prayers on the Muslim Sabbath, the agency quoted an unidentified Interior Ministry official as saying.

Security forces reportedly rushed to the scene and surrounded the mosque in the village of Al Qubah, in the southwestern region of Bishah.

Saudi Arabian authorities have apparently identified a suspect in the attack, according to sources close to the region’s governor. An official announcement was to be issued late Saturday about the man’s identity.

It was not immediately clear if the suspect had been detained or if others were involved.

Residents said the Interior Ministry has stepped up security measures, searching people entering and leaving the area.

Some say the bomb was the first attack in a Saudi Arabian mosque since Muslim extremists seized the Grand Mosque in Mecca, the holiest shrine in Islam, in 1979.

The Interior Ministry said investigators were undertaking “meticulous research” to find clues to the materials used to make the bomb and who might have planted it.

One expert familiar with the region where the attack took place said, if the motive were found to be a personal vendetta, it would not be surprising in Bishah, a tribal region where feuds are common.

But some Gulf-based diplomats said it was hard to believe that an indiscriminate attack in a crowded public place would be carried out in settling a personal grievance.

“It will probably take some time before establishing the real motives, but why would somebody choose a mosque packed by worshipers on a Friday to settle personal disagreements?” said one diplomat.