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A
TV grab from Saudi Al-Ekhbaria news channel shows one of the two
attacked men
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RIYADH,
June 7 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Saudi forces were
Monday, June 7, hunting for gunmen who shot dead an Irish cameraman
working for the BBC and seriously wounded one of the network's senior
correspondents in an attack in Al-Suweidi district in Riyadh.
BBC
correspondent Frank Gardner, 42, lay in a critical but stable
condition in a Saudi hospital, the British embassy said Monday,
according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The
BBC identified the dead cameraman as Simon Cumbers, 36. The two men
traveled to Saudi Arabia last week following attacks in the city of
Khobar, BBC said.
Sunday's
attack, the fourth in five weeks on Westerners in the kingdom,
heightened security fears among the tens of thousands of expatriates
in the world's largest oil exporter, Reuters reported.
Gardner,
"is a leading expert on Al-Qaeda and works full-time reporting on
the war on terror," the British broadcaster said in a statement.
Cumbers,
36, was "a freelance journalist and cameraman who has worked
throughout the world filming international news stories for the BBC
and for (other) news organizations," the BBC said.
Security
sources said the gunmen fled after the shooting.
British
Ambassador Sherard Cowper-Coles told the BBC there was a "serious
and chronic terrorist threat" in Saudi Arabia and warned the
shooting could drive more Westerners to leave the Gulf state.
The
BBC's head of news Richard Sambrook said the crew were in Al-Suweidi
district, filming the house of an Al-Qaeda militant who police killed
last year.
In
line with local practice, the pair were accompanied to Al-Suweidi
district by a "minder" from the Saudi information ministry
who reportedly escaped unhurt, AFP said.
Security
sources said the gunmen separated the Saudi escort from the
journalists before shooting them. Authorities are questioning him for
more details, Reuters reported.
‘Aware’
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Irish
freelance cameraman Simon Cumbers is seen in this undated picture
released by the BBC
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Sambrook
said that both reporters would have been aware of the danger.
"Nobody
knew Saudi Arabia or knew the sort of risks they were undertaking
better than Frank who had lived and worked in Saudi Arabia and spoke
fluent Arabic and who was an expert on Al-Qaeda and on
terrorism," he told the BBC Radio 4's Today program.
"Simon
was also extremely experienced in terms of working in difficult
locations like this so both men would have thought very seriously
about what they were doing and how they were going about it."
The
deadly attack came barely a week after gunmen killed
22 people, including several Westerners, in a rampage and
hostage-taking drama in the eastern oil city of Al-Khobar. The assault
helped push oil prices to record highs before producers vowed to raise
output.
Condemnation
British
Foreign Secretary Jack Straw condemned the attack and expressed
admiration for Gardner.
"I
utterly condemn the attack on BBC journalists in Riyadh today,"
Straw said in a statement.
"I
extend my sympathy to the family of the cameraman who was killed and
my thoughts are with Frank Gardner, his family, colleagues and
friends.
"Gardner
is an outstanding reporter who always seeks to do everything he can to
explain the dangerous world we live in to the BBC audience.
"I
have nothing but admiration for journalists like Mr Gardner who know
their lives are at risk as they go about their work.
"We
will continue to do all we can to support the Saudi authorities in
their fight against terrorism," Straw said.
Frightening
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Undated
photo released by the BBC of Frank Gardner
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Despite
the security forces' relentless hunt for terror suspects, presumed
Al-Qaeda supporters have escalated attacks since April 2004, bombing a
security forces building in the capital before expanding their scope
of operations to target both Westerners and oil-related facilities in
various parts of the vast kingdom.
Six
Westerners - two Americans, two Britons, an Australian and a Canadian
- were killed when gunmen went on a shooting spree at a petrochemical
plant in the Red Sea industrial port of Yanbu on May 1.
On
May 22, a German national working in the catering department of the
Saudi national carrier was shot dead in Riyadh, and last weekend, four
Westerners - an American, a Briton, an Italian and a Swede - were
among the 22 people killed in Al-Khobar carnage.
On
Wednesday, June 2, one American serviceman was slightly injured when
shots were fired at two vehicles carrying two U.S. military personnel
who helped train the Saudi National Guard as they drove along a
highway outside the Saudi capital, according to the U.S. embassy in
Riyadh.
Statements
attributed to Al-Qaeda and affiliates, sent by email or posted on
websites, have claimed responsibility for the latest attacks.
On
Friday, June 4, a statement attributed to Abdul Aziz Al-Muqrin, who is
alleged to be Al-Qaeda chief in Saudi Arabia and tops the most-wanted
list, hailed the recent spike in oil prices that was partly caused by
the attacks in the oil-rich kingdom and took pride in the killing of
"all infidel hostages" during Al-Khobar carnage.
Three
of Al-Khobar gunmen escaped, while a fourth was wounded and captured,
according to Saudi authorities.
Saudi
Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal gave credence Sunday to reports
that the gunmen were allowed to escape.
Security
forces who besieged the building where hostages were being held had
been right to give priority to saving the captives' lives, the
minister said.
"These
criminals had no inhibition against taking lives," he told
reporters, adding that security forces were on their trail and would
capture them.
Britain
has since February 2004 advised its nationals against traveling to
Saudi Arabia, while the United States has been urging Americans to
leave since mid-April 2004.
About
30,000 Britons and 35,000 Americans live in Saudi, among thousands of
other expatriates from all over the world.
"It's
frightening. We are seeing them (militants) carrying out more attacks.
I don't see it ending," one Westerner told Reuters.
Riyadh's
Suweidi district is a stronghold of Saudi-born Osama bin Laden's
Al-Qaeda followers and 15 of the 26 most wanted militants in the
kingdom, including the leader of the group in Saudi Arabia, Al-Muqrin,
come from there.
Saudi
Arabia has been battling Al-Qaeda for more than a year, and security
forces have arrested or clashed with many suspected militants in
Suweidi in recent months.
At
least 80 civilians and police have been killed since May 2003 in a
string of bombings and attacks blamed on Al-Qaeda. Police have killed
or arrested nine top militants.
What
Islam Says about targeting innocent people…
