JEDDAH, 29 February 2004 — A number of the 26 wanted militants as well as their supporters, sympathizers and financiers have been arrested, Deputy Interior Minister Prince Ahmed said. He said ongoing sweeps by security forces had also netted several extremists who recently appeared on a tape purporting to show the bombers of a Riyadh residential complex.
“Of course some have been captured, but others remain at large,” the minister said of the wanted list, which was published in December last year. The 26 militants including 23 Saudis, two Moroccans and a Yemeni, were wanted in connections with terrorist attacks in the Kingdom.
According to official accounts, the list was narrowed to 23 after one militant was killed in a clash with security forces, another surrendered to authorities, and a third succumbed to his wounds after he was injured in a shootout with police in Riyadh and left to die by his comrades.
The minister told Al-Riyadh that not all those on the list and not all those being rounded up had necessarily taken part in bombings. “Many of those who have been arrested participated perhaps not in bombings, but supported, helped, supplied or sympathized” with bombers, he said.
