JEDDAH, 17 April 2007 — Police yesterday arrested two Yemeni men in their 20s, one of whom opened fire at a police patrol car on Saturday when they were asked to stop the car they were in.
The two men escaped on foot. A third man, the driver of the vehicle, was arrested shortly after the incident in the Al-Baghdadia district of Jeddah, police officials said. He was a Saudi.
According to police sources the two Yemeni nationals, identified as Muhammad Abdu Al-Zahrawi and Muhammad Hadar Al-Qadi, have a long criminal record of theft and assault.
Police said that Al-Zahrawi was the one who shot at the police car. He was recently deported and had reentered the Kingdom illegally. He is also wanted in connection with the stabbing of an Indian expatriate in Jeddah. Al-Qadi was wanted for his involvement in a number of other crimes.
The incident took place at 8 a.m. on Saturday when a police officer in a patrol car, became suspicious of a sedan carrying three people and asked the driver to pull up. The driver, Al-Zahrawi, refused and fired several times at the patrol car. One of the shots hit the car but the officer was not injured.
Other police vehicles, which were dispatched after the shooting, managed to locate the car and arrest the driver. Officers had been looking for the two passengers, who escaped on foot.
Police sources said that the driver, who is also wanted by the police, has a history of involvement in criminal activities.
Meanwhile, police are looking for an Asian expatriate after his apartment in the Al-Mushrifah district blew up. The Civil Defense said that the man had turned his home into a bootlegging factory.
The explosion spread panic among residents, who called the Civil Defense. The apartment’s front door and windows were completely shattered due to the explosion, said another tenant in the building.
