Simon Cumbers

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia's press is among the most heavily censored in the Arab world, but it has shown occasional signs of life since September 11, 2001. Some Saudi newspapers have demonstrated unusual boldness, publishing tough critiques of religious militancy and low-level government mismanagement and calling for reform.

New York, June 7, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) mourns the death of BBC cameraman Simon Cumbers, 36, who was shot to death yesterday by unidentified gunmen near Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner, 42, was also critically injured in the attack.

The shooting occurred in Al-Suwadi, a suburb of Riyadh, when Cumbers, an Irish freelance cameraman on assignment for the BBC, Gardner, and a Saudi government minder were filming the house belonging to an al-Qaeda militant killed last year by Saudi police, according to the BBC. Reuters reported that Saudi authorities are questioning the minder.