The Hindu : International : Concern over Saudi security situation

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jun 09, 2004

International

International

Concern over Saudi security situation

LONDON, JUNE 8. Saudi special forces were guarding the BBC's security correspondent, Frank Gardner, in a Riyadh hospital last night as doctors worked to save his life.

Mr. Gardner was left for dead by gunmen who killed his cameraman in an attack on Sunday that once again highlighted the deteriorating security situation in the kingdom.

Saudi officials were quick to speculate that the attack was linked to Al-Qaida. The U.K.'s Channel 4 News said last night there was evidence that Mr. Gardner, who has been tenacious in his pursuit of stories relating to Osama bin Laden and his followers, had been deliberately targeted.

The attack took place when Mr. Gardner and Cumbers were filming outside the home of a militant with links to the Al-Qaeda, who, according to local press reports, was killed in December. Cumbers (36), is thought to have died almost instantly.

Mr. Gardner and Cumbers were accompanied by a guide from the Saudi Ministry of Information and possibly a driver. There are reports they were separated from their guide before they were shot.

The Associated Press said Mr. Gardner (42) underwent surgery at the Iman hospital, near the scene of the shooting, to remove bullets from his abdomen, leg and hand. BBC sources said he received about nine bullet wounds. He was later transferred to the King Faisal specialist hospital, used by the Saudi royals, where he was in intensive care last night.

Senior BBC executives met yesterday to discuss the growing threat faced by reporters in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere in West Asia. Cumbers had spoken out against journalists carrying weapons as a means of protection in Iraq.

The BBC is likely to go ahead with plans to open a permanent base in Riyadh, though it may make more use of local staff who are perceived to be at less risk.

Despite an anti-terror campaign begun by the Saudi authorities in May 2003, following attacks on residential compounds, there has been an upsurge in violence against foreigners. Mr. Gardner and Cumbers travelled to Saudi Arabia a week ago to report the aftermath of these attacks. In reports already filed, Mr. Gardner talked about increased levels of fear among foreigners working in the country.

Arab News, the leading English-language daily newspaper in Saudi Arabia, described the Riyadh neighbourhood of Suweidi, where the shooting took place, as home to 15 of the 26 most wanted terror suspects in the country, including Al-Qaeda's leader in Saudi Arabia, Abdel-Aziz al-Moqrin.

The U.K. Foreign Office has advised Britons against all non-essential travel to Saudi Arabia. The U.S. has urged all of its citizens to leave the kingdom.

Guardian Newspaers Limited 2004

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