JEDDAH, 28 December 2005 — Five Saudi policemen were killed and a most wanted terrorist was captured yesterday in the bloodiest gunbattle in the Kingdom in three months, an Interior Ministry spokesman said.
Two police officers were killed by gunfire from a car east of Buraidah, capital of the Qassim region, 300 kilometers north of Riyadh, outside a camp intended for pilgrims to take rest on their way to Makkah.
Three more policemen died when the car’s driver opened fire on a roadblock near Madneb to the south of Buraidah in the same region, the Saudi Press Agency quoted the spokesman as saying.
The security forces then gave chase to the car, damaging the vehicle and wounding and arresting the driver. Security sources later identified the driver as Mohammed Abdul Rahman Al-Suwailemi, who ranks No. 7 on a list of 36 most wanted terrorists issued by the ministry.
Witnesses said there were two people in the car and that a helicopter had been called in to provide aerial surveillance of the area as extra police had been deployed. Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki did not confirm the arrest of Al-Suwailemi but said security forces were continuing their efforts to root out terrorists from the country.
Saudi Arabia has been battling Al-Qaeda militants blamed for a series of bombings and shootings across the country since May 2003. Security forces have killed a number of leading terrorists over the past months.
