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Arabia
Soddies on the hunt for BBC killers
2004-06-07
Saudi forces hunted Monday for gunmen who shot dead an Irish cameraman working for the BBC and seriously wounded a reporter in a Riyadh area known as a stronghold for Islamist militants. Security sources said the gunmen fled after the shooting.
Of course they did
British Ambassador Sherard Cowper-Coles said the BBC journalists were with a Saudi information ministry guide at the time. He 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.
That's the plan
A doctor at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital said Gardner had also been hit in the pelvis and leg. "Gardner’s condition is stabilizing after a critical night," he told Reuters. The BBC’s head of news Richard Sambrook said the crew were in the Suweidi district, filming the house of an al Qaeda militant who police killed last year, when the gunmen attacked.
Maybe his "family" was still home.
Security sources said the gunmen separated the Saudi escort from the journalists before shooting them. Authorities are questioning him for more details.
"Thanks for bringing the infidel press to us. You can go now
." British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw condemned the shooting and said his country "would continue to do all we can to support the Saudi authorities in their fight against terrorism." "There is a serious and chronic terrorist threat, and people -- particularly Westerners, particularly Britons and Americans -- need to exercise extreme vigilance and consider their personal safety," Cowper-Coles said. Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal has warned the militants were now going after soft targets, and many Westerners said they were afraid for their lives. "It’s frightening. We are seeing them (militants) carrying out more attacks. I don’t see it ending," one Westerner said. 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, Abdulaziz al-Muqrin, come from there.
Posted by:Dan Darling

#10  Maybe they should bring in outside help for these terrorist searches, you know, some top men like Hans Blix . . .
Posted by: The Doctor   2004-06-07 5:28:40 PM  

#9  Why isn't this being reported as a friendly fire incident?
Posted by: Dar   2004-06-07 2:22:29 PM  

#8  On the news over here it says that they were filming outside the house of a known AQ affiliate/sympathiser, OK, Darwin must be spinning furiously down there, but is it so naive to ask why the Saudis aren't dealing with these people, at least with regard to the domestic threat they pose? Hnnnnnnnnngh...
Posted by: Howard UK   2004-06-07 2:05:47 PM  

#7  ALSO-
"Soddies on the hunt for BBC killers"
Why does the Dudley Do-Right music keep running through my head?
Posted by: BigEd   2004-06-07 11:26:03 AM  

#6  BBC appeasers are finding out what happens when the women don't wear the burquas, and the men don't have long beards. God is great, kill the infidels, god is truly great!

(Lower case - that god is not the same one as I know)
Posted by: BigEd   2004-06-07 11:24:16 AM  

#5  Bulldog...well said. 'cept she loving him on your dime. Maybe he wouldn't be quite as handsome if the bills weren't paid and there was no money for baby's (and mommy's) new shoes.

Too bad BBC and NPR aren't like the South Koreans - demanding to be cut loose from mommy's trust funds. Joy to the day that we stop funding their dream lives in the Ivory Tower and they are forced to wake up in the real world.
Posted by: B   2004-06-07 11:01:51 AM  

#4  Very well put,Bulldog. It's a horrible thing for the victims and families. What's sad is that this sort of thuggery can be reasonably -- if only sarcastically -- refer to "red on red" or "friendly fire." This is entirely a reflection of the appalling cluelessness and moral imbecility of the BBC. One of the most depressing things I recall reading a while back was how the BBC Arabic service spewed a stew of nonsense not much better than that coming from Arab "media," but with the implied credibility of a western source (Denis Boyles line, perhaps). There's hoping the crocodile eats you last, and then there's trying to pretend that the crocodile has redeeming qualities, or must be understood, or is only eating people because they've provoked him.
Posted by: Verlaine   2004-06-07 10:47:30 AM  

#3  Security sources said the gunmen fled after the shooting.


Prince Naive: "It was uncertain whether the 'militants' would successfully flee, until our security forces surrounded them, and they then were able to escape"
Posted by: Frank G   2004-06-07 10:10:03 AM  

#2  Auntie's been hit with the bat she's long admiringly watched being used on others. Perhaps now's the time she's going to ask herself whether she's going to play 'beaten spouse' in her love affair with Mohammed. Sadly, statistics and precedent suggest that she won't end the relationship for quite some time. The BBC is this thug's bitch. She loves him, and that's all that counts.
Posted by: Bulldog   2004-06-07 9:59:03 AM  

#1  being a good person and all, I'm trying to muster some sympathy for the BBC reporters. While I feel bad for the individuals ...and all that...it's just that, for so long, the BBC has aided and comforted our enemies. The pen is a mighty sword, and the BBC has proven themselves to be formidable combatants for the "other side".

...so I'm digging deep to remind myself that the death of these reporters is not a good thing.
Posted by: B   2004-06-07 9:46:33 AM  

00:00