A British oil executive shot dead in a suspected al-Qaida attack in Saudi Arabia was the victim of a "cold-blooded atrocity", his devastated wife said.

The full horror of the attacks on May 29, in which 61-year-old Michael Hamilton and 21 others died, emerged at his inquest.

The father-of-two, whose British home was in Rye, was shot at least nine times as he sat in his car at the headquarters of a major oil firm in Al Khobar, where he had worked since 1989.

Islamic militants shot him in the chest at close range, then tied his body to the back of their car and dragged it through the streets for more than a mile.

Mr Hamilton's body was found near a roundabout after the rope snapped, the inquest heard.

Moments before the 7am killing, Mr Hamilton had dropped his wife Penelope at a residential compound near the Araba Petroleum Investments Corporation, where he worked.

In a statement read after the inquest in Hastings, Mrs Hamilton said: "Michael was the victim of a cold-blooded atrocity.

"He had worked in Saudi Arabia for many years and was widely known and respected. He was going about his business in Al Khobar when he was targeted by terrorists.

"In Michael, we have lost a loving husband, son and father. He was kind and generous and he was dedicated to his work for an Arab company. He was a friend of Saudi Arabia."

The widow, flanked by her son Matthew and Mr Hamilton's brother Douglas, stood nearby as the statement was read by family solicitor Philip Peacock.

Detective Superintendent Kim Durham, of Scotland Yard's anti-terrorist branch, told the inquest that he and several other British officers went to Al Khobar following the murders to support Mrs Hamilton and record her husband's final moments.

At the time of his death, Mr Hamilton was talking to a guard at the security gate when the terrorists pulled up and opened fire through the windows of his car, killing him and the guard instantly.

They later also fired at a minibus full of children blocking the exit gate. It burst into flames, killing a ten-year-old Egyptian girl.

The terrorists drove out of the complex but returned, pulled up next to Mr Hamilton and tied his body to the back of their vehicle with rope.

A second attack was launched by a separate group of militants at another petroleum compound three miles away. Several Westerners and Muslim staff members were executed.

At a third compound in the city, it is thought the same gunmen who killed Mr Hamilton launched another attack. They took hostages before the siege was broken after a 12-hour stand-off.

Mr Durham told East Sussex Coroner Alan Craze the Saudi authorities had concluded the attack was the work of al-Qaida.

One of the attackers resembled a man featured on the web site of a group which later claimed responsibility for the atrocities.

Speaking after the inquest, Mr Durham said some suspects had been killed in gun battles in Saudi Arabia while others had been questioned. No one has yet been found guilty of the attacks.

The coroner recorded a verdict of unlawful killing.