RIYADH, 17 April 2004 — Two terrorists who shot dead a security officer Wednesday gave police the slip again late Thursday night.

Police patrol cars sweeping the rugged area of Wadi Hanifa near Al-Oyaynah, 45 km northwest of Riyadh, spotted the suspects who had killed an officer of the Al-Mujahedeen units and wounded his colleague.

The suspects, who were hiding in a cave in the valley, were spotted by security officers using night vision binoculars, sources told Arab News.

Security officers then sealed several ways into the area and waited for backup. However, when orders to engage arrived the suspects had managed to flee into “deeper grounds”, according to a security source.

Due to the rugged terrain, security officers were unable to follow in their cars.

The search for the suspects continued throughout Friday on foot and with Civil Defense helicopters.

Authorities are still trying to find out whether the terror suspects hiding in Wadi Hanifa have any connection to the suspects that shot dead four policemen in Onaiza, Qasim on Tuesday and whom the Ministry of the Interior has linked to a shootout with security forces in Riyadh’s Al-Faiha district last Monday.

A security source told Arab News yesterday that news that police were preventing local residents from entering the Hijra Boda area near the Wadi was “totally untrue”, saying the throngs of passersby who gathered to watch the helicopters and the fleet of police patrol cars did not hinder search operations.

Meanwhile, the injured officer, Bujaid Al-Otaibi who was shot in the leg, is recovering in Huraimila Hospital in Al-Uyaynah, a source said.

The two Al-Mujahedeen officers on Wednesday came under fire at around 2 a.m. from the gunmen who were traveling in a white Mitsubishi pickup.

After shooting the two officers they took the body of Naif Al-Otaibi with them and dumped him some 500 meters from the road, continuing their escape on foot.

The incident followed a series of clashes in and north of Riyadh on Monday and Tuesday, culminating in the discovery of two explosive-laden vehicles primed for attacks in the capital.

Since the government issued a list of 26 most wanted suspects after the May and November bombings in Riyadh, hundreds of suspects have been arrested.