RIYADH, 10 January 2005 — Saudi security forces killed four wanted terrorists in a shootout in a remote desert area 90 km north of Al-Zulfi, a sleepy town located 280 km northwest of Riyadh.
The gunfight resulted in “the death of four... members of the deviant group,” a term used to describe Al-Qaeda sympathizers, an Interior Ministry spokesman said in a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency.
“Three members of the security forces were slightly wounded,” he added.
The incident took place in a desert area between Al-Zulfi and Al-Qassim. The spokesman said security forces ordered the suspects, who were holed up in a tent in the desert area called Nafood Al-Thweirat north of Al-Zulfi, to give themselves up.
“Security forces surrounded the hide-out early Sunday morning and asked them to surrender,” the spokesman said. The suspects “opened fire ... and attempted to flee in a car while lobbing grenades at police,” he added.
Security forces returned fire killing the four men before seizing “a cache of weapons, explosives, ammunition and various documents,” he said, urging all suspects to surrender to authorities.
The Interior Ministry said the identities of three of the four terrorists killed have been established and that experts were working to identify the fourth. All three identified were Saudi nationals.
Muhammad Abdul Rahman Muhammad Al-Farraj helped in recruiting new members to the group, transporting explosives and providing weapons. He was also involved in attacks against the security forces. Mishaal Obaid Abdullah Al-Hasiri was involved in attacks against security men and in kidnapping and killing a foreign national. Omar Abdullah Al-Raid Al-Qahtani used his personal car to provide transport to the militants.
Security forces late last month killed a total of 10 terrorists, including two of the Kingdom’s most wanted men, in two days of clashes in Riyadh. The clashes occurred both before and after two car bombings against security targets in the capital.
