A Kingdom in Crisis

LYNSEY ADDARIO/CORBIS for TIME

PAPER TIGER? Saudi ruler Abdullah (on poster) has feuding factions in his House

As a veteran reporter on the global terrorism beat, Frank Gardner knew the dangers facing foreigners in Saudi Arabia when he ventured last week into al-Suwaydi, a Riyadh neighborhood known as a stronghold of Islamic extremists. Gardner, a BBC correspondent, and cameraman Simon Cumbers had arrived in Saudi Arabia a week earlier to cover the aftermath of the May 29 terrorist rampage in the oil-industry city of Khobar, which killed 22. As Gardner and Cumbers prepared to do some filming, a car pulled up alongside them. A man opened fire with a machine pistol, killing Cumbers and leaving Gardner fighting for...

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