Riyadh — A German man was killed Sunday in a car explosion in the capital Riyadh, German and Saudi officials said.

Police said the victim was a 56-year-old private sector employee. In Berlin, a Foreign Ministry spokesman confirmed the victim was a German national, but did not elaborate.

A preliminary investigation shows the assailant followed the German man's car and detonated the explosive by remote control, a police official said.

The explosion took place at 4:26 p.m., and an investigation was continuing. Police blocked roads leading to Abdel Hamid Al-Kateb Street in the neighbourhood of Al-Sulaymanieh where the explosion took place.

There has been a string of car bombings targeting foreigners in the kingdom that Saudi authorities have blamed on disputes between gangs dealing in alcohol, which is forbidden in the kingdom under Islamic laws but is not difficult to obtain.

Two bombings in Riyadh in late 2000 killed a Briton and injured four other people.

Canadian William Sampson and Briton Alexander Mitchell are on death row in Saudi Arabia, awaiting word on their appeal, for convictions in those bombings. Four other Britons and a Belgian are serving prison sentences.

Most recently, a bomb exploded in June shortly after a British banker started up his Land Rover in Riyadh. He died in the blast.

In December 2000, a Scottish man was injured in an explosion in Khobar; in March 2001, a Briton and an Egyptian were injured in a bombing outside a Riyadh bookstore; and in May 2001, an American was seriously injured in Khobar when a package he was opening exploded.

Concerns about anti-western sentiments have surfaced in the kingdom since the Sept. 11 attacks and the ensuing war on terrorism, which many Saudis see as an assault on Islam. There have been no reports of violence linked to anti-western extremists in the kingdom.