RIYADH/MADINAH, 28 February 2007 — The remaining five members of the French group who were targeted by unknown gunmen 50 km north of Madinah off the Tabuk highway returned to the capital yesterday evening amid tight security.

The group arrived at Riyadh’s King Khaled International Airport on a private flight from Madinah at 8:30 p.m. Officials from the French Embassy and the Saudi Interior Ministry received them along with loved ones.

Two men died when assailants in car opened fired on a group of nine French nationals after the group visited the historic site of Madain Saleh. A third man died while his wife rushed him to a hospital. The fourth victim, a 17-year-old boy named Mubarak, whose father was also killed in the ambush, died after undergoing surgery to extract a bullet from a lung overnight.

Three women, an 11-year-old girl and a 15-year-old boy survived the assault and authorities believe they were not targeted.

Two of the dead were French Muslims and funeral prayers were performed for them yesterday at the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah.

“The bodies remain in the morgue inside the hospital until the relatives of the deceased decide whether they want them to be buried here or flown back home,” said Alian Guepratte, second secretary in the French Embassy, to Arab News.

Embassies issued bulletins yesterday urging foreign nationals to abide by advice that includes not congregating in groups.

“We have modified our letter regarding traveling to Saudi Arabia and advised travelers not to go there for the time being,” said a French Foreign Ministry source.

The survivors were escorted into diplomatic cars after they left the airport covering their heads with coats or veils to avoid being photographed. The boy was visibly upset and had to be assisted by relatives to the car.

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah yesterday phoned President Jacques Chirac and expressed Saudi Arabia’s condolences to the families of the victims and the French people, the Saudi Press Agency reported. “Whoever carried out this terrorist act against innocent people represents only himself and will not escape the hand of justice,” the king said.

Omar Al-Hussayen, PR manager at Schneider Electric, the employer of two of the victims, identified the murdered French Muslim national as Jean Marc, aged 47. “He announced that he had embraced Islam a year before he was killed,” said Al-Hussayen.

He added that Marc had expressed an interest in learning Arabic to learn more about Islam and was on his way to perform Umrah in Makkah.

One of the other killed Frenchmen was identified as Jim Novella, 44, an electrical engineer at Schneider Electric.

Dr. Adnan Khalil Basha, secretary-general of the International Islamic Relief Organization in Saudi Arabia, condemned the barbaric act which he said is not only directed at the safety of expatriates but also at the prosperity of the Kingdom.

Ahmad Al-Shareef, general manager of the Youth Welfare Presidency in Madinah, said that crimes like this are not befitting the people of the holy city and the Kingdom. He added that the news came as a shock to the city’s residents.

“This is a terrorist act and the people who did it should be brought to justice and they will be brought to justice. We have great confidence in the Saudi police to punish these people,” he said.