4th French victim dies after Saudi attack

A French teenager has died from injuries after gunmen fired on his car in the Saudi desert yesterday.

A French teenager has died from injuries after gunmen fired on his car in the Saudi desert yesterday.

His death brings the number of fatalities in the attack to four after a group was attacked on the side of a road leading to the holy city of Medina yesterday in an area restricted to Muslims only.

All four victims were French. Two were expatriate employees of the electrical equipment manufacturer Schneider Electric, and one was a teacher in a French school there, the Foreign Ministry said.

The Saudi Interior Ministry said it was too early to determine whether the attacks were terrorist-related.

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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.

The men were resting on the side of a road about 10 miles north of Medina when gunmen fired at their car, instantly killing two of them. The other two died later in a hospital.

Women and children also were with the group but they were uninjured, the Interior Ministry spokesman said.

Non-Muslims are barred from the area around Medina and neighbouring Mecca, the holiest cities in Islam. It was unclear what the victims' religions were.

AP