A Saudi prince was ambushed and murdered by “suspected extremists” in Algeria yesterday while hunting rare gazelles in the desert: Saudi prince killed in Qaeda ambush.

The reports said the prince, identified as Talal bin Abdelaziz Arrachid, was shot and killed during the night of Thursday-Friday in a confrontation in which nine people were killed and several injured.

He was described as a wealthy businessman and the editor of the Saudi illustrated magazine Fawasel.

Algerian newspapers said he was part of a group of several Saudis accompanied by Algerian security forces that had been hunting rare desert species such as gazelles and great bustards for several weeks.

The hunters’ convoy was ambushed in the Djelfa region, 250km south of Algiers, the reports said. Three Saudis and four Algerians were taken hostage and later rescued in an operation by security forces, the daily El Khabar said.

The reports said the attack was probably carried out by the largest Islamist extremist movement in Algeria, the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), which in September claimed its allegiance to Al Qaeda.