JEDDAH, 30 December 2004 — Security forces arrested a suspected member of a deviant group here yesterday, the Interior Ministry said.
It was referring to suspected Al-Qaeda terrorists who have killed more than 100 people and wounded hundreds more since launching a wave of bombing and shooting attacks in May 2003.
The man arrested in Jeddah was wounded “while resisting security forces and attempting to flee,” the ministry said.
Eyewitnesses who were passing the scene of the shootout yesterday at 9:30 a.m. told Arab News that they saw the clearly wounded militant lying on the ground in the parking lot of a shop on the northbound lane of Madinah Road near the Radisson Plaza Hotel. A plainclothes security agent was seen standing over him with a rifle, while another agent stood nearby in a bloodstained thobe. A uniformed policeman was also seen approaching the scene.
“It was frightening to see such a sight on my way to work,” said one Saudi eyewitness, who asked for anonymity. “At first I thought it was an accident, but when I saw the guns I knew it was something else.”
The dramatic shootout was apparently over in minutes, with shopkeepers in the area saying they didn’t notice anything taking place.
But the fact that it occurred during rush hour in such a densely populated central business district could frighten residents.
“It seems that we are at risk from being swept-up in a shootout between fleeing militants and security forces at any time now and at any place,” said the Saudi eyewitness. “It’s really frightening.”
