Fourth Frenchman dies after Saudi attack

RIYADH (Reuters) - The death toll in a militant attack on French tourists in Saudi Arabia rose to four on Tuesday after a French teenager died from bullet wounds, a hospital doctor said on Tuesday.

The boy's father was among three French expatriates working in Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, who were shot dead during a desert trip on Monday in what appeared to be the first attack by suspected al Qaeda militants on foreigners in three years.

An acquaintance who did not want to be named said the men were machine gunned down in front of the women and children, confirming a report from a security source.
"He (the boy) died from the consequences of his shoulder injury. Part of the bullet was still there. He was bleeding. We carried out an operation but it was no good. He died this morning," Metwakkil Hajjaj told Reuters by telephone from Medina.

He said the teenager was called Mubarak, the Muslim son of a French woman of Moroccan origin.
They were part of a group of nine French nationals living in Riyadh who had been visiting historic sites and camping in the desert in the scenic western region of the vast desert country.

Islamic militants swearing allegiance to al Qaeda launched a violent campaign to topple the U.S.-allied Saudi monarchy in 2003, with suicide bomb attacks on foreigners and government installations, including the oil industry.

Continued.