Jeddah, Asharq Al-Awsat- The uncle of one of the men wanted in connection in the murder of 4 French nationals near the city of Medina has confirmed to Asharq Al-Awsat that Abdullah Sair Muawwad al Muhammadi and his cousin Nasir al Balwi have been missing since last Monday.

Hasan Muawwad al Muhammadi, the uncle of suspect Abdullah Sair al Awadi, also revealed told Asharq al Awsat that “since last Friday three of Abdullah’s brothers have been in custody and are being questioned by authorities”. Al Muhammadi also stated that the suspect’s father was also questioned by authorities and has since been released.

In other news, The French embassy in Saudi Arabia said on Wednesday it was warned by Saudi authorities that the group behind last week’s might strike again.

“We received a message from the Saudi foreign ministry, addressed to all embassies and diplomatic and international representations in Riyadh, stating that the group responsible for the killing of our compatriots on February 26 might perpetrate other similar acts in town or elsewhere,” an embassy spokesman told AFP.

The Saudi interior ministry said on Tuesday that security forces had arrested a number of suspects over the fatal shooting.

In a message on its website, the embassy told the 3,600 French nationals living in the oil-rich kingdom to “strictly abide by security guidelines in force, namely avoid at the moment travel outside urban centres.”

The attack was the first in three months against Westerners in Saudi Arabia, which was rocked by a spate of bombings and shootings blamed on suspected Al-Qaeda militants that started in May 2003, triggering a relentless security crackdown on Islamist extremists.