A BRITON was shot dead by suspected al-Qaeda terrorists in Saudi Arabia yesterday, causing fears that Osama bin Laden’s network is about to begin a wave of attacks to destabilise the oil-rich kingdom.
The victim was identified by security sources as Edward Smith, 50, an employee of Marconi. He was the first Briton to be killed in Saudi Arabia since May. He was shot dead in the car park of a shopping complex in a suburb in the east of Riyadh, the capital. He was hit twice in the head and twice in the chest.
According to the British Embassy in Riyadh, the victim was a single man who had lived in Saudi Arabia for some time.
Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles, the British Ambassador in Riyadh, said: “Our thoughts and prayers are with the family, friends and colleagues of the Briton killed today in Riyadh.
“They should know — as the terrorists must know — that his murder will only make the British Government more determined to stand with the Saudi Government and people in the struggle against senseless terror of this kind.”
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The last Westerner killed in Saudi Arabia was an Irishman who was shot in his office in early August, although that incident was thought to be an opportunistic anti-Western attack rather than the work of al-Qaeda.
The timing of yesterday’s murder could not have been worse for the Saudi authorities, who claimed just two weeks ago that they had defeated the terrorist threat.
The killing occurred as thousands of expatriate workers were returning after long summer holidays, during which many will have debated whether living in Saudi Arabia had become too risky.
To the relief of the Saudi authorities, there has been no exodus among the 25,000- strong British expatriate community. The British School in Riyadh has seen the number of pupils drop by just 100, to 600, over the past year.
In another blow to Saudi Arabia yesterday the Bush Administration dangled the threat of sanctions at its oil-rich ally and advised the kingdom to allow other faiths besides a strict form of Sunni Islam to be observed.
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In an unprecedented move, the State Department added Saudi Arabia to a name-and-shame list of repressive states that is issued each year to highlight egregious repression of religious freedom abroad.
“Freedom of religion does not exist,” the State Department said as it released the annual report for 2004.
Colin Powell, the Secretary of State, is obliged to designate especially repressive countries as being “of particular concern”, a category that can carry a wide range of sanctions in theory, though they were not expected to be applied. US officials said that the designation was meant to let Saudi Arabia know that the US took the issue seriously.
The report is not meant to be political in nature but it could serve President Bush well. His base includes a lobby of Christian conservatives.
Americans were shocked to learn that most of the September 11 hijackers were born in the kingdom, a US ally. Many analysts have questioned the wisdom of close ties to a country whose citizens must be Muslim and where religious police enforce severe punishments against non- believers.