The husband of a former reporter for The Argus has been shot dead in Saudi Arabia.

Irish freelance cameraman Simon Cumbers, 36, was filming for the BBC in the capital Riyadh.

BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner was seriously wounded in the attack.

His condition in hospital was said to be critical but stable.

Louise Bevan, a journalist on The Argus in the Eighties, was expected to fly to Riyadh later this week.

Her parents, who live in Portslade, were too upset to talk.

A family friend said: "Louise is devastated. They were fantastic together and both families are wonderful."

Ms Bevan and Mr Cumbers, who ran Locum Productions, a TV news and production company, married in 1996.

The shooting happened as Mr Cumbers and Mr Gardner were filming a report on the increasing fear among foreign workers in Saudi a week after a terror attack killed 22 people.

One of the dead was oil industry executive Michael Hamilton, 62, who was planning to retire to Sussex with his wife Penelope to their home near the sea in Rye.

The BBC were sending a team to Saudi to investigate the latest shooting.

Richard Sambrook, BBC director of news, said: "We are trying to establish exactly what took place.

"Our thoughts are with the families of Simon and Frank.

"We are in touch with them and offering them all the support we can."

Sympathy messages were also sent by Saudi prince Turki Al Faisal and Foreign Secretary Jack Straw.

Prince Al Faisal said: "We offer our most sincere and heartfelt condolences to the family of the BBC cameraman, Simon Cumbers, killed in Riyadh today and to the family of the journalist, Frank Gardner, who was injured."

Mr Straw said: "I extend my sympathy to the family of the cameraman who was killed and my thoughts are with Frank Gardner, his family, colleagues and friends."

Mr Gardner, an expert on al Qaida, was appointed security correspondent following the September 11 attacks and reports full time on the war on terror.

As a freelance, Mr Cumber worked throughout the world for the BBC, Associated Press Television and ITN.

Mr Cumber, from County Meath, in the Irish Republic, covered the Good Friday Agreement, the Omagh bombing and disturbances in Drumcree.

In January this year, while taking part in a debate on the security of media personnel operating in war zones, Mr Cumbers argued against journalists carrying weapons.

Colleagues described Mr Cumbers as an enthusiastic and creative photojournalist.

Cathy Grieve, assignment editor of BBC News Interactive, who knew Mr Cumber when he worked in Northern Ireland in the Nineties, said: "He was always positive about his work."