RIYADH, 9 November 2002 — An armed Saudi, who stormed into Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency office here on Thursday, died of bullet wounds following a gun battle with police, according to Maj. Gen. Abdullah Al-Shahrani, director of police in the Riyadh region.
He said Nasser Al-Murqi, 27, the Saudi gunman had injured a guard when he opened fire indiscriminately at the building. “Police opened fire at Murqi when he started firing at them,” he added.
The incident took place about 11 p.m. on Thursday. “During the exchange of fire, the man was injured and was taken to hospital where he died,” Shahrani said. Security authorities are investigating the incident. Police initially negotiated with Murqi, who was demanding an unspecified sum of money and safe passage out of the country, he said. Murqi introduced himself to negotiators as “Caliph Mahdi” before opening fire on the police.
The man first entered the building of the Ministry of Finance and National Economy on King Abdul Aziz Road. “He quickly moved to SAMA’s office on King Faisal Road and continued fire away, injuring a guard. Security officers then cordoned off the building,” the police director said in a statement.
SAMA office in Riyadh receives a large number of people on working days, especially representatives of government departments and banks. It employs about 300 people.
Four arrested: Police in Hafr Al-Baten arrested four persons and confiscated 24 kilo of hashish and several bottles of foreign liquor from them, Al-Riyadh Arabic daily reported. In Yanbu, police arrested two persons involved in stealing iqamas (residence permits) and selling them for SR1,500 per iqama, the paper said. Police are questioning the two expatriates. In Jizan, security officers have held 177 illegal foreign workers for violating iqama and labor regulations.
