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RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Three Frenchmen who lived in Saudi Arabia were killed by gunmen Monday on the side of a desert road leading to the holy city of Medina in an area restricted to Muslims only.
A fourth Frenchman was seriously wounded in the attack.
Interior Ministry spokesman Maj.-Gen. Mansour al-Turki said it was too early to determine whether the attacks were terror-related. Saudi Arabia has been waging an intense campaign against al-Qaeda militants since a wave of suicide attacks on foreigners in the kingdom in 2003.
“Undoubtedly this is a criminal act, but it's too early to determine their motives and whether it is terrorism,” Mr. al-Turki said.
In France, President Jacques Chirac condemned “this odious act,” his office said in a statement Monday night.
The men were resting on the side of a road about 16 kilometres north of Medina when gunmen fired at their car, instantly killing two of them, Mr. al-Turki said. The third man died later after he was taken to a hospital, and the fourth was in serious condition at an area hospital, Mr. al-Turki said.
Women and children also were with the group but they were uninjured, the spokesman said.
The area the group was travelling in is restricted for Muslims only. Non-Muslims are barred from the area around Medina and neighbouring Mecca, the holiest cities in Islam. The Prophet Muhammad was born in Mecca, where he began spreading the message of Islam, until he fled to Medina. From Medina, he spread Islam until he died and was buried in the city. Muslims perform the annual hajj pilgrimage to Mecca and usually visit Medina as well.
Mr. Al-Turki said the group was probably making a Muslim pilgrimage. But it was possible they were travelling to another ancient site north of Medina where the Saudi government recently started allowing non-Muslims to visit.
In France, Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said the French ambassador to Saudi Arabia plans to visit the site of the attack and discuss it with Saudi authorities. He said one of the men was a teacher at a high school in Saudi Arabia and the other two worked for a private French company in the kingdom. He did not provide more details.
“I condemn this horrible act,” Mr. Douste-Blazy said. “French authorities are mobilized along with the Saudi authorities, so that light be shed and that those responsible be detained and punished.”
The area where the attack occurred also is home to oil installations, which are part of the Strategic Oil Storage Project – a massive underground facility that includes five sites across the kingdom.
Earlier this month, a Saudi Arabian terrorist faction affiliated with al-Qaeda urged Muslim militants in an Internet posting to attack oil facilities all over the world.
Al-Qaeda has claimed responsibility for last year's attacks on oil installations in Saudi Arabia and Yemen after Osama bin Laden called on militants to stop the flow of oil to the West. The group also was behind the 2002 attack on a French oil tanker that killed one person in the Gulf of Aden.
