JEDDAH, 27 March 2003 — Police in the northern Jouf region have arrested a Saudi in connection with the shooting death of a traffic policeman in Sakaka on Tuesday.
The official Saudi Press Agency said police had made the arrest, but gave no details. The motive for the attack was also unclear.
Police said the investigation of the shooting incident was continuing. The policeman’s colleague was also wounded in the shooting incident.
Security sources said the gunman had fled after shooting the two policemen near a school on Palestine Street in Sakaka’s Moaqela district.
Al-Madinah newspaper identified the murdered police officer as Ali Nasir Al-Rowailey and the wounded officer as Hashel Al-Zoraiki.
Jouf Governor Prince Fahd ibn Badr visited the wounded officer at the Prince Abdul Rahman Al-Sudairy Central Hospital in Sakaka on Tuesday.
Al-Zoraiki, who sustained injuries on his right shoulder, underwent an operation and his condition is now stable.
Al-Zoraiki told Al-Jazirah newspaper that his colleague Al-Rowailey died on the spot. Al-Zoraiki was driving the police vehicle at the time of the attack.
Press reports said the gunman, who was accompanied by another Saudi youngster, fled in a Toyota Hilux after firing at the two traffic policemen.
Tuesday’s heavy sandstorms in the city helped the gunman to escape the security dragnet.
Last month, the deputy governor of Jouf, Hamad Al-Wardi, was shot dead on his way to work. A judge was killed in September in the same region as he was leaving a mosque after Friday prayers.
A Saudi man was arrested for the September shooting shortly afterward but the authorities did not reveal details of the investigation.
Killings of officials are rare in Saudi Arabia, which has seen a string of bomb attacks in Riyadh and Alkhobar against Westerners in recent years.
Saudi officials have blamed the bombings on infighting among gangs involved in alcohol smuggling in the Kingdom. However, diplomats say the attacks may be linked to rising anti-Western sentiments due to US support for Israel and over the war in Iraq.
