RIYADH, 26 December 2004 — BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner, who was critically injured in a shootout in the capital six months ago, is to undergo a six-hour surgery in January. He hopes to be back on air three months later.

“Frank, who sustained serious injuries on June 6, has shown signs of rapid recovery at a London hospital,” a British Embassy spokesman told Arab News yesterday.

Gardner was seriously injured and his cameraman Simon Cumbers was killed when they came under fire in a Riyadh neighborhood.

Speaking about the attack in an interview with the BBC on Friday, Gardner said: “They are part of the insurgency in Saudi Arabia. It’s not a rebellion, it’s a relatively small number of people who are dedicated to violent acts to drive out Westerners... It was quite terrifying, as you can imagine, these people were hardcore militants... I don’t think it would be fair to say they were paid-up members of Al-Qaeda, but they were certainly sympathizers.”

Describing the attack, he said: “They mounted a very professional operation. They cornered us with two cars, they hemmed us in, there was no way out. It took less than 10 minutes, maybe even less than five, but I remember every single thing. I looked into the face of the gunman who shot me. I saw in the faces of the gunmen absolute hatred; they had pressed the button of violence and nothing I tried to say to them in Arabic was going to dissuade them. As far as they were concerned I was a heathen, a Western infidel who had come into their area and this was an opportunity to execute a Westerner. These were people of the same mentality as Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi’s people in Iraq. And they wanted blood, they wanted to make a statement by executing us and, as far as they were concerned, they left me for dead.”

A highly-qualified team of specialists from King Faisal Specialist Hospital was sent to bring him over from the emergency unit of Al-Eiman Hospital where he was first taken to after being attacked. “I think if they hadn’t come I would’ve been dead about an hour later,” Gardner said.

Gardner was in the intensive care unit (ICU) of KFSH for 16 days before being flown to London for further medical treatment. He was taken home in a special Medical Evacuation Aircraft of the Riyadh Armed Forces Hospital. The air ambulance was supported by a team of medics who accompanied Gardner and his wife Amanda.

He has two young daughters — Melissa, six, and Sasha, five. When she was in Riyadh with her husband, Amanda said she would never try to stop her husband, a leading expert on the Al-Qaeda terror network who had been reporting full-time on the war on terror, from returning to the Middle East.

Gardner, currently in a wheelchair, is at the spinal injuries unit at a London Hospital. He said: “People do improve, I’ve improved. I’ve got some movement and feelings back in my legs. I’ve got what’s called an ‘incomplete injury’ so there is hope that I will recover my legs but it’s a less than 50 percent chance. But I will be back on air in March.”