Briton working for defence firm in Saudi Arabia shot dead in his car

A British man working in Saudi Arabia was shot dead in his car yesterday, raising fears over the safety of Westerners living in the Middle East.

Robert Dent, 36, named as the victim by his employer BAE Systems, the British aerospace and defence company, was waiting at a traffic light in the country's capital, Riyadh, when he was killed.

A man who was arrested after the attack had been identified as Saud bin Ali bin Nasser, 30, who worked as a sales agent for Toyota, said the Saudi Interior Ministry. He is thought to be a naturalised Saudi citizen of Yemeni origin.

No motive is known for the killing but it comes at a time of heightened anti-US and anti-British sentiment in the Gulf over a possible attack on Iraq.

On Wednesday, the Foreign Office upgraded its travel warnings on some Middle East countries, advising its citizens in Iraq to leave the country and warning against travelling to Kuwait, Israel and the Palestinian territories. It cited "increasing regional tension and the risk of terrorist action". A Foreign Office spokesman said nobody could yet say whether the shooting was linked to terrorism. Yesterday's attack took place on Khaled bin al-Waleed Street in the Granada district of Riyadh and the victim died instantly.

Mr Dent, who had two children, worked as a commercial officer at BAE Systems in Riyadh. He was on a day off when the incident took place, between 1pm and 3pm UK time. Mike Sweeney, a BAE Systems spokesman in Britain, said the attacker pulled alongside the victim in another car when he stopped at the lights.

He added that employees who returned to Britain for the Muslim festival of Eid 11 days ago had been given the option to remain at home, due to ongoing uncertainty regarding security. Walid Abukhaled, a spokesman for the company in Saudi Arabia, which employs about 5,500 people at sites in the country, said: "This is very sad news. The company has been in Saudi Arabia for 30 years and enjoyed good relationships here. We are all very shocked and really feel for his family."

Mr Abukhaled said the company was in the process of contacting Mr Dent's relatives in Britain. About 150,000 American troops and more than 40,000 British troops are in the region preparing for a possible strike against Iraq.

This is believed to the third attack on BAE employees in the past three weeks and around half of all its employees in Saudi Arabia are expatriate British workers.

Two weeks ago, a British engineer working for the company was shot at while driving his car in Riyadh. He escaped uninjured.

About 60,000 Americans and Britons live and work in the country. Mr Dent became the fifth Westerner slain in Saudi Arabia in the past three years.

Most Britons in Saudi Arabia live in guarded high-walled compounds. Westerners have also been killed in Kuwait in recent months.