JEDDAH, 21 September 2004 — Security forces arrested a wanted terrorist after a shootout in the northern city of Tabuk yesterday, the Interior Ministry said. Three policemen and the terrorist were wounded in the gunbattle.
“Security forces spotted a wanted man, who is affiliated to a deviant group, inside a building in the city of Tabuk,” the Saudi Press Agency said, quoting a ministry official.
“When security forces arrived at the site, the wanted man opened fire on them. An exchange of fire ensued, and he was wounded and captured. Three security men also sustained medium injuries in the incident,” the official said.
Tabuk Governor Prince Fahd ibn Sultan visited the injured police officers at King Khaled Hospital in Tabuk. He said the Saudi leadership and people were proud of their efforts to confront the deviant group. He emphasized the government’s resolve to root out terrorism from the country. The term “deviant group” is used by authorities to refer to suspected Al-Qaeda extremists blamed for a spate of bombings and shootings in the Kingdom since May 2003.
The ministry official did not say whether the arrested man figured on a list of 26 most wanted terrorists published in December. Eleven of them are still on the run.
Agence France Presse quoted a security source as saying that a second wanted terrorist managed to flee the scene of the clash in Tabuk and was being chased by police.
Saudi security forces regularly raid hideouts of suspected terrorists.
More than 90 people have been killed and hundreds wounded in the violence of the past 16 months. Gunmen shot dead a British man outside a supermarket in Riyadh on Sept. 15 in the latest attacks on Western expatriates in the Kingdom. Police are still investigating that incident.
Saudi authorities have rounded up hundreds of suspects since the spiral of violence started in May 2003.
