French nationals shot dead in Saudi

Three French nationals have been shot dead near the Saudi Arabian city of Medina in what is believed to have been a militant attack.

According to Saudi TV, a group of eight French nationals, some of them Muslims, were attacked on a road between the ruins at Madain Saleh, popular with tourists, and Medina in the west of the country.

They had reportedly been heading to the holy city of Mecca for a pilgrimage when four of the group were attacked by gunfire.

Two died at the scene and two were taken to hospital where one of the victims later died.

The group included four women and a child but it was not clear if they were among the dead.

A violent campaign was launched by militants swearing allegiance to al-Qaeda in 2003 which included suicide bomb attacks on foreigners and government installations including the oil industry.

Foreigners have not been targeted since 2004 when the campaign was at its height.

Simon Cumbers, an Irish cameraman, was killed and BBC Security Correspondent Frank Gardner was seriously injured in June of that year when filming in the capital Riyadh.

The last major attack was an attempt to storm an oil facility at Abqaiq in the east of Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter.

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