RIYADH, 6 April 2004 — Saudi security forces shot dead a suspected militant and wounded another during a car chase in an eastern neighborhood here yesterday, the Interior Ministry said.

“Security forces chased a car carrying two individuals in the eastern part of Riyadh. In the ensuing shootout one of them was killed and another wounded,” a ministry official said.

The official said the chase started at 6:10 p.m. when security patrols tried to stop a car with stolen license plates at a crossroads in the district.

“When police tried to stop them, the two opened fire at them and ran away. They were then chased and the car was disabled,” the ministry statement said.

“No policemen or citizens were injured in the incident,” the official said. “Efforts are now under way to identify the two,” he added.

Witnesses said security forces cordoned off the part of the district where the gunbattle erupted and combed the area. The siege was continuing more than two hours after the incident began as ambulances sped through the streets.

It was not immediately possible to establish whether the two suspected militants figure on the government’s most-wanted list, as some witnesses claimed.

That list has gone down from 26 to 22 since it was issued by authorities last December following a series of suicide bombings in Riyadh that killed 52 people in May and November 2003.

Several terror suspects and security personnel have been killed in similar shootouts, particularly in the capital, since the May 12 bombings on residential compounds in Riyadh.

On March 15, a Yemeni described as Al-Qaeda’s head of operations for Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Gulf was killed in Riyadh.

Khaled Ali Haj, who ranked third on the most-wanted list, was suspected of having ordered the Riyadh attacks, which have been blamed on Al-Qaeda.

Two others on the most-wanted list have been killed in clashes with security forces while a third man surrendered to authorities.

The Interior Ministry has offered rewards of up to SR5 million for information leading to the arrest of the 22 prominent militants still on the run.

Police have also uncovered major stockpiles of weapons and explosives in their crackdown on militants. They have seized more than 20 tons of explosive material, surface-to-air missiles, rocket-propelled grenades, and hundreds of explosive belts.