Dr. Adnan Khalil Basha, secretary-general of International Islamic Relief Organization, said: “The horrific crimes against humanity were also against Islam. Islam is a religion of peace and never supports terrorism. Such acts are throwbacks to the Stone Age and have no place in Islam.”

Trevor Woolley, a print media consultant who visits the Kingdom several times a year, said: “I am concerned for the Saudis and the effect that this will have on them. The vast majority of them are peace-loving and deeply religious — they wouldn’t condone this sort of thing.

“The problem is that they will all be tarred with the same brush. The average Westerner who hasn’t ever been here doesn’t discriminate between the extremist and the average person.”

Woolley, who rode from Jeddah to Birmingham last year on a motorcycle, found that at ground level Middle Eastern people were the kindest and most hospitable he met in his travels round the world. “This kind of outrage is not the way to sort out anything,” he said, “and it may well have wide repercussions on the economy. I don’t have a problem with coming to the Kingdom for long periods each year — but my family do. They put me under immense pressure.”

He said expats who were making decisions whether to renew contracts would surely be thinking again. “There is a general view that enough is enough. Although the Kingdom has its attractions and is generally very safe, there are easier places to make a living,” he added.

“If those idiots think they are fighting for a cause that is their religion they had better re-read the Qur’an,” said Deborah Zahid, a French Muslim married to a Saudi businessman. “If they were true Muslims, they would be having fatour (breaking bread) with the Americans rather than going and killing them at night.”

Passionate about the loss of life, Deborah said: “I would call them cold-blooded brainless butchers; I am not good with words, but this is what I feel. If you want to make a point, you go to the highest level; you don’t kill Americans and others who are living here and doing nothing wrong.”

A personnel manager in the Riyadh office of a global company said: “People around me are stunned. Communication has largely been coming from outside, hundreds of text messages and people ringing up inquiring about our families and us.”

Western schools were particularly shaken by the blasts. The director of the British International School (Continental) in Jeddah said in line with advice he had received the school would remain open. “We have increased our security arrangements and are putting additional measures in place. We will continue to monitor the situation and take any necessary action,” he added.

Rachel German, who lives in the UK and whose husband works in the Kingdom, saw the attack from a different perspective. “The fact that my husband is in Jeddah rather than Riyadh helps; last night, the reports were at first just about major terrorist explosions in Saudi Arabia. Initially, there wasn’t a lot of information and the early eyewitness accounts were very frightening. Many of the more analytical reports hinted that there was a great deal more going on,” she said.

Meanwhile, a rumor that circulated yesterday that the British Embassy had closed turned out to be baseless; the consular sections, however, were shut and staff were assigned to other duties.

Dominic Asquith, press secretary, confirmed that staff from the consular and visa sections had been diverted. He also confirmed that “we have closed the consular and visa sections because they are dealing with a major complication, so we need the resources elsewhere. There are many calls on our time and many human problems to address.”

Pakistan Ambassador Retd. Adm. Abdul Aziz Mirza said: “Pakistan condemns acts of terrorism in all their forms anywhere in the world. We strongly condemn this most brutal and horrible act of terror and violence.”