Tributes paid to murdered journalist

FRIENDS of an Irish journalist shot dead in Saudi Arabia paid tribute last night to a man who was bigger than life and a joy to be around.

Simon Cumbers, shot dead by militants in the capital, Riyadh, while working on assignment with the BBC, was a consummate professional, enthusiastic, optimistic, determined and very loyal, said his friend and colleague Charles Miller.

As relatives and friends gathered at the family home in Meath, the Irish Embassy in the capital was working with the BBC and officials in the Gulf state to organise the return of Mr Cumber's body. It is expected his funeral will be held in Ireland, though the 36-year-old has lived in Britain for just over a decade.

He is survived by his wife, Louise Bevan who travelled to Saudi Arabia yesterday his mother Bronagh, father Bob, two sisters and one brother.

Saudi forces were yesterday hunting Mr Cumbers' killers, who also shot and critically injured the BBC security correspondent, Frank Gardner. He underwent "extensive surgery" overnight on Sunday, having suffered wounds mostly to his abdomen.

The pair travelled to Saudi Arabia following the shooting rampage by Islamic militants that left 22, mostly foreigners, dead in the oil city of Khobar. They were filming in an area of Riyadh known to be a militant stronghold.

A Saudi information ministry guide accompanied the pair through the Suweidi district. At the time of the ambush, they were filming the house of an al-Qaida suspect killed by police last year. The two were separated from the guide before being shot. Mr Cumbers, from Navan, ran a freelance production company with Ms Bevan. He was a highly respected cameraman who worked with the world's leading broadcasters, including the BBC, CNN and ITN.

A former radio reporter with then Capital Radio, now FM 104, Mr Cumbers, on moving to Britain, worked as a television correspondent with ITN before retraining as a cameraman. He joined Associated Press Television and worked on stories across the globe before setting up Locum Productions six years ago.

He has worked in many of the world's trouble spots, including Iraq. Mr Cumbers spent a lot of time working in the North covering the Good Friday Agreement negotiations and the Omagh bombing.

"It just seems a unique tragedy that he was on assignment in a country that is in many respects not one of the world's deadliest places: that he should be killed in this way," said Mr Miller. "Everybody is devastated. He was the kind of person who was a joy to be around, as well as being a consummate professional, enthusiastic, determined and very loyal to the people he worked around. In that great Irish tradition, he was bigger than life."

His background as a reporter and the awareness of the story gave the Navan man a unique edge as a cameraman. That was what made him so attractive to major broadcasters, said Mr Miller, who worked with the murdered man for six years at Locum Productions.

The National Union of Journalists Irish Secretary Seamus Dooley extended his sympathies to the family. "It's deeply shocking and I know the NUJ has called for an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the killing," said Mr Dooley, adding that he knew Mr Cumbers by reputation as a brave and fearless journalist.