RIYADH, 13 February 2004 — A wanted Saudi named Majed Al-Rushoodi was arrested by security forces yesterday. The forces caught him hiding in a toilet in Buraidah, 330 kilometers (205 miles) north of Riyadh, the daily Al-Riyadh reported.

Security forces searched Rushoodi’s house on Wednesday night after cordoning off the site. The suspect, 28, had escaped from jail some time ago, the paper said. He did not put up any resistance. There were no more details about the detained man.

Security forces in the capital, meanwhile, are continuing to keep a tight vigil against terrorists in the south of the city, particularly the Al-Jazira district. On Monday afternoon, security forces raided a villa in the district in the Iskan area to check for explosives.

Several Arabic news websites as well as some Arabic satellite TV channels reported that were was a heavy security presence in Al-Jazira district on Tuesday.

Arab News, however, during its visit to the district and through its meetings with officials, confirmed that the security operation that took place had actually taken place a day earlier. An officer in Special Forces Unit confirmed to Arab News that the raid in Al-Jazira district had taken place, but added that it had occurred on Monday. The source did not say what materials had been recovered.

In another development, one of Saudi Arabia’s most wanted militants, whose name was published in a government list of top 26 suspects last year, has been killed by security forces, a pro-Al Qaeda website has claimed.

The statement published by the organization said Amer Al-Shihri had been killed in a clash in the Suweidi neighborhood of Riyadh. It did not say when he died.

A Saudi newspaper said last week authorities were conducting DNA tests on a body found in an unmarked desert grave north of Riyadh to see if it was Shihri’s.

The website also said that another militant, Abdulilah Al-Otaibi, had been killed in the same clash with security forces. Otaibi was not one of the 26 most wanted.

Twenty-three of those men, most of them Saudi nationals, are still on the run two months after authorities offered rewards of up to $1.9 million for information leading to their arrest.

(Input from AFP)