Parcel Bomb Wounds American at His Office in Saudi Arabia

An American physical therapist was seriously wounded Wednesday when a parcel bomb blew up in his face in Saudi Arabia.

The man suffered injuries to his face, hands and left leg when he opened a parcel--which he thought contained a videotape--in his office at the Saad Medical Center in the eastern city of Khobar, said Police Chief Naser Mohammed Naser.

A tape on the U.S. Embassy answering service said the man was “gravely injured” while opening a video-sized package delivered by courier.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Philip T. Reeker said the victim was “seriously wounded.” Reeker said that he could not identify the man and that he did not have enough information to say who or what was behind the blast.

In 1996, a bomb attack on a U.S. military barracks in Saudi Arabia killed 19 American airmen.

There have been a string of suspicious explosions in Saudi Arabia since November. Two bombs in the capital, Riyadh, between Nov. 17 and Dec. 15 killed a Briton and injured four others. A Scottish man was injured in a small explosion in Khobar in December. A British man and an Egyptian were injured in a blast in Riyadh in March.

Three foreigners working in Saudi Arabia--a Briton, a Belgian and a Canadian--have been arrested in connection with the recent blasts.

Interior Minister Prince Nayif ibn Abdulaziz has said that authorities do not suspect that the bombings since November are politically motivated. Authorities have not said what they believe the motive to be.