BBC cameraman slain, journalist wounded in Saudi terror attack
AFP, Riyadh
An Irish cameraman was shot dead and a British BBC correspondent wounded in the latest attack by suspected Islamist extremists trying to chase Western "infidels" from Saudi Arabia. Barely a week after gunmen killed 22 people, including several Westerners, in a shooting rampage and hostage-taking drama in the eastern oil city of Al-Khobar, the pair came under fire on Sunday on the streets of the capital Riyadh near the home of a top wanted militant. The BBC said Simon Cumbers, 36, was killed in the Al-Suwaidi district while security correspondent Frank Gardner, 42, was being treated in hospital for injuries. 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. The extremists' campaign which has left more than 85 people dead and hundreds injured in Saudi Arabia since May 2003 is blamed on al-Qaeda gunmen. Cumbers 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 corporation said. Hospital sources said Gardner was out of danger after undergoing surgery at Al-Iman hospital. He was to be moved to the capital's King Faisal Specialist Hospital. 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.
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