The bombing of the residential compound in Riyadh on Saturday night sent several messages. The first was that Al-Qaeda are a presence in the Kingdom and have declared war on everyone who lives here, Saudis and foreigners alike. Saudi Arabia is now the front line in the war on terror and we must all stand shoulder to shoulder with the security forces to eradicate this menace from the home of Islam’s two holiest shrines.

Another message came from the Saudi government, which again pledged that it will stop at nothing in tracking down those who carry out such heinous acts and their supporters. There can now be no doubt whatsoever that this is a decisive battle against the forces of evil, whose goal of bringing about instability and chaos is anathema to all decent-minded Saudis.

The fact that Arabs and Muslims were targeted has been made much of in both the Arabic-language and Western media. And rightly so. That the attack occurred in Ramadan merely increases the revulsion, and should leave no one in any doubt that Islam and its values were far from the minds of those who chose to take their own lives along with so many others. What has such terror to do with Islam?

Having said that, the attacks would have been no less barbaric had they targeted an exclusively Western compound. It is the duty of any Islamic government to protect non-Muslims living in their lands, and the Saudi authorities have made clear beyond any doubt that all guests in the Kingdom are treated equally when it comes to security and other matters.

As Prince Alwaleed ibn Talal told Al-Watan newspaper yesterday, the time is over for stupid conspiracy theories which blame every event that shows the Kingdom in a less than perfect light on hidden foreign hands. This was not the work of Mossad. This was not the work of the CIA. The time has come for all of us to pour scorn on anyone who takes that all-too-easy way out. This attack was carried out by Saudis, and rather than remain in denial about the fact, we must face up to it — and everything it implies.

As Crown Prince Abdullah has said, even those who sympathize with people who carry out such attacks are themselves terrorists. There is no room for equivocation any more. Every Saudi must do his or her part to exorcise this demon from our midst.

If any good can come of such horror as the Riyadh blast, it is surely that no one who now hears the name Al-Qaeda will have any image in their mind other than one which truly reflects what the organization stands for: Innocent men and women being rushed to hospitals dripping with blood or trying to comfort their terrified children. Al-Qaeda are terrorists, pure and simple. They stand for nothing but death, destruction and disunity.