RIYADH, 18 April 2004 — An explosives-laden 1991 GMC Suburban wanted by the Ministry of the Interior since February has been found in the Al-Sulai district in south Riyadh, the Saudi Press Agency said yesterday.

The ministry in February put out a warrant for the dark gray truck saying the vehicle was “loaded with explosives that could be used in a terrorist attack” and posting an SR7 million reward for information leading to its seizure.

The GMC was last spotted in Al-Rabwa district in February.

Sources told Arab News the GMC was spotted at 4 a.m. yesterday outside a warehouse in Al-Sulai district, an area full of warehouses and junkyards and mostly frequented by lorry drivers.

An Egyptian working for a company with a warehouse just adjacent to where the GMC was found told Arab News it had been parked there for some days.

“The GMC has been parked there for the past three days. Every day as I would stroll around the area I would see it there... but I never got close to it because I was afraid it was stolen or something,” he said.

The worker, who could be a millionaire now, is cursing his bad luck. “I didn’t know that the GMC was wanted by the government or that there was a reward for reporting it,” he said.

However, he said the GMC had no license plates and had been repainted red.

Security personnel earlier found tins of paint and car parts in the villa where four terror suspects were hiding last Monday in Al-Faiha district before engaging in a gunbattle with security forces.

The worker also told Arab News that security officers had asked all workers in nearby warehouses to keep away from the area until the car was removed at 11 a.m.

According to eyewitnesses, several local residents over the past days were seen carrying cartons believed to be food supplies through the rear entrance of the warehouse.

Security forces have been tightening security in several areas in the capital since February in a bid to find the vehicle, mainly in Al-Rawabi, Al-Rabwa, Al-Sulai, Al-Jazeera, Al-Rawdah, and Al-Salam districts. Several security checkpoints had been erected in the entrances and exits of those districts.

GMC is a favorite brand among terrorists. Last Tuesday police found two explosives-laden GMCs primed for attacks on the Riyadh-Qasim road.

Meanwhile, the search still continues for five terror suspects who last Wednesday shot dead officer Naif Al-Otaibi of the Al-Mujahedeen units and injured his colleague in Wadi Hanifa, near Al-Oyaynah, 45 km northwest of Riyadh.

Police patrol cars sweeping the rugged area spotted the suspects who were hiding in a cave in the valley, but they got away. Due to the mountainous terrain, security officers were unable to follow in their cars.

The incident followed a series of clashes in and north of Riyadh on Monday and Tuesday in which a total of five security officers and one suspected terrorist were killed.

Meanwhile, a group of 30 Americans heading for Riyadh were advised not to continue their journey during a stopover at Cairo airport, an airline source told Arab News, two days after the US State Department ordered all non-essential diplomatic staff to leave the Kingdom. The 30 were traveling from London via Cairo and Jeddah to Riyadh, the source said.