Chronology of attacks on Westerners in Saudi Arabia

Feb 26 (Reuters) -Three French nationals, some of them Muslims, were shot dead in Saudi Arabia on Monday in what appeared to be a militant attack, the Interior Ministry said.

There have been no major attacks targeting foreigners since 2004, when the campaign launched by al Qaeda to topple the U.S.-allied Saudi monarchy was at its height.

Here is a short chronology of attacks on Westerners in Saudi Arabia:

Feb 20, 2003 - Briton working for defence contractor BAE Systems is shot dead in Riyadh.

-- May 12 - Suicide bombers attack housing compounds in Riyadh, killing 35 people. At least 200 are wounded.

-- Nov 9 - Suspected al Qaeda suicide bombers blow up Riyadh compound housing foreigners and Saudis, killing 18.

-- May 1, 2004 - Gunmen kill five Westerners and two police in a shooting spree in the oil centre Yanbu.

-- May 29 - Militants attack oil company and housing compounds in Khobar, then flee to the city's Oasis housing compound, taking hostages. Seven Saudi police are killed.

-- May 30 - Saudi commandos storm Oasis compound, freeing 41 hostages. Twenty-two civilians are killed. Three gunmen escape.

-- June 6 - Saudi gunmen kill Simon Cumbers, an Irish cameraman working for the BBC, and seriously wound his British colleague Frank Gardner as they film in Riyadh.

-- June 8 - Gunmen kill an American employee of U.S. contracting firm Vinnell in Riyadh.

-- June 12 - Kenneth Scroggs, a U.S. national, is shot dead in Riyadh. Al Qaeda claims responsibility.

-- June 18 - Kidnappers behead Paul Johnson, an employee of U.S. defence contractor Lockheed Martin.

-- Aug 3 - An Irish civil engineer who worked for a Saudi firm is shot dead in his office in eastern Riyadh.

-- Sept 15 - Edward Muirhead-Smith, a British engineer, is killed in Riyadh in attack claimed by al Qaeda militants.

-- Sept 26 - Frenchman Laurent Barbot is shot dead in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah by suspected al Qaeda militants.

Feb 26, 2007 - Eight French nationals come under fire near Tabuk in the northwest of the country. Three are killed.

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