JEDDAH, 15 March 2005 — Fifteen people injured in Sunday’s shootout in Jeddah between security forces and suspected terrorists were in stable condition yesterday at King Fahd Hospital where they were being treated.
The injured included 13 security officers. Four of them were transferred from Erfan hospital last night while a fifth police officer, who was lightly injured, was treated at Erfan and discharged.
Ibrahim Al-Youbi, a wanted militant, and Yousef Al-Fazi, husband of a woman who was shot in the crossfire, were among those undergoing treatment at King Fahd Hospital yesterday. Saleh Al-Zahrani, a Saudi resident of Al-Rabwah district who transported five injured policemen to Erfan hospital, provided interesting information about Saad Al-Youbi who was killed in Sunday’s encounter.
Saad was asked to vacate his apartment due to large suspicious gatherings in his home, not due to delayed payment of rent as reported by local newspapers, because he used to pay his rent promptly, said Al- Zahrani, who owned the building where Saad lived until 11 months ago.
The landlord said Saad used to have large gatherings in his apartment. Sometimes there were more than 10 men, which raised his suspicion. Once he asked Saad how he could leave his wife alone with such a lot of men inside the apartment and head to work. He answered that they were his wife’s relatives, some brothers and others cousins.
According to the landlord one day last Ramadan, Saad had a similar gathering. On his way to the mosque to perform Duhr prayer Al-Zahrani decided to ring Saad’s door bell to wake them up.
But no one answered, he returned again during Asr prayer and made a second attempt but still no one answered, so he cut off the apartment’s electricity, which eventually woke them up. He said the young men inside the apartment looked like the religious type but asked: “How can you be a Mutawa and you don’t pray in the mosque?”
“I did not like the way they looked and their actions. Mine is a family only building, so I requested them to leave last April.” Saad vacated the building afterward and moved to the building where Sunday’s deadly gunbattle occurred.
