A British cameraman died and a journalist was injured and a in a gun attack in Saudi Arabia, it emerged last night.

BBC cameraman Simon Cumbers, 36, was killed and security correspondent Frank Gardner, 42, badly hurt in the south of the capital Riyadh a week after the attack that killed 22 people, including one Briton.

Mr Gardner was in a serious condition and being operated on, a Foreign Office spokeswoman said.

The BBC said that its team came under fire from gunmen in a suburb of Riyadh as they filmed a report about increasing fear amongst workers in Saudi.

Richard Sambrook, BBC director of news, said: "We are still trying to establish exactly what took place and we are in touch with their families."

Mr Sambrook said: "Our thoughts are with the families of Simon and Frank tonight."

A spokesman said Mr Gardner was a leading expert on al Qaida and worked full-time reporting on the war on terror.

Mr Cumbers, who was a freelance journalist and cameraman, has worked throughout the world for the BBC, Associated Press Television and ITN.

"His unusual mix of technical expertise coupled with a journalistic background was at the heart of his success," said a BBC spokesman.

"The two men had travelled to Saudi Arabia last week following terrorist attacks in Khobar and have been reporting from the country for BBC News since then."

The Saudi ambassador to London, Prince Turki Al Faisal, said: "These journalists were vigorous in their pursuit of the truth behind the terrible evil of al Qaeda, which haunts us all," he said in a statement.

"We will not allow this incident or any other attack to deter us from our goal, the eradication of this wicked group whose aim is to destabilise our society and our relationships with other countries."

* A British security contractor died and three colleagues were injured in a drive-by shooting in northern Iraq, the Foreign Office said last night.

Craig Dickens was killed in the ambush near Mosul on Saturday, as he travelled in a civilian convoy which came under fire from gunmen.

Peter Lloyd, Stephen Baigent and David Leach, all Britons, were also hurt but are said to be recovering with non life-threatening injuries.

All four men were workers for ArmorGroup, a security firm with 1,000 employees in Iraq protecting official buildings and companies.