Shot BBC correspondent hopes to return to work

The BBC correspondent shot in an attack in Saudi Arabia in which an Irish camerman was murdered has revealed he could be back at work in March.

Security correspondent Frank Gardner was shot six times by terrorists in Riyadh six months ago.

His cameraman, Irishman Simon Cumbers, was killed in the attack.

Mr Gardner is currently in a spinal injuries unit and will undergo another major operation in January but he said he would be back on air soon.

“You can’t keep me off air,” he said. "I am hoping, all things being well, I will be back on air in March.”

Speaking of his ordeal for the first time, Mr Gardner said he remembered “absolutely everything” about the attack.

“I looked into the face of the gunman who shot me,” he said. “I saw in the faces of the gunmen absolute hatred. 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.”

Mr Gardner said he believed the attack was opportunistic. The militants had mounted “a very professional operation”, he said.

Mr Gardner is still in a wheelchair. There is hope he will recover the use of his legs, but it is a less than 50% chance, he said.

He added it was very unfair for him to have been targeted as he was one of the few journalists who bothered to explain al-Qaida’s aims.