Officials offer condolences after state media reports killing of Major General Abdulaziz al-Fagham.

A prominent bodyguard to Saudi Arabia’s King Salman has been shot and killed in a personal dispute, according to state media.

Major General Abdulaziz al-Fagham was killed in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah, where the government relocates for the summer months, the al-Ekhbariya broadcaster reported on Sunday.

The state-run Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said al-Fagham was shot and killed after visiting a friend at his house. Citing a police statement, SPA said al-Fagham had a verbal exchange there with Mamdouh bin Meshaal Al Ali, a man described as his friend, who then retrieved a firearm from outside and opened fire. 

The shooter refused to surrender to police who had surrounded the site and who shot him dead, the statement said. Another Saudi, a Filipino and five members of the security forces were also wounded by gunfire, it added.

Al-Fagham was transferred to a hospital but died from his wounds.

Tributes poured in on social media for al-Fagham, with many posts including images of the bodyguard at work.

“May you rest in peace, hero …” senior Royal Court adviser Turki al-Sheikh tweeted.

Tawfiq al-Rabiah, Saudi minister of health, offered his condolences on Twitter. 

The daily newspaper Okaz, while offering no details on the shooting that led to his death, described al-Fagham in a headline as: “The Keeper of Kings.”

Gun crimes are rare in Saudi Arabia, where strict Islamic law sees convicted killers and drug smugglers routinely executed. In 2017, there were 419 reported homicides, according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime.

Saudi Arabia is home to more than 30 million people.

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