RIYADH, 4 June 2003 — A suspected militant killed by police last weekend was carrying a six-month-old letter from Osama Bin Laden, Al-Watan reported yesterday.
The body of the man identified as Yousuf Saleh Fahd Al-Ayeeri, one of 19 militants wanted for alleged ties to Al-Qaeda, was searched after he was shot dead following a police chase Saturday, the newspaper reported, quoting informed sources.
“The sources revealed that a folded handwritten letter, stained with blood, signed with the name Bin Laden ... was found in the pocket of the killed,” the paper reported.
Al-Watan said some passages in the letter, dated to December, were not clear because it was stained with Al-Ayeeri’s blood. It said the note congratulated a certain person on the occasion of Eid Al-Fitr and commended accomplishments of groups under his command.
The addressee could not be read because of blood on the letter, the newspaper said.
Al-Watan said police worked for hours to detonate explosives Al-Ayeeri had strapped to his body. He was also carrying four identification cards, a driver’s license that does not belong to him, and a global positioning device, the paper said.
Officials could not be reached for comment.
Al-Ayeeri was among 19 Al-Qaeda operatives wanted by Saudi authorities following the discovery of a weapons cache in the capital on May 6. The government said at the time that the militants, 17 of whom were Saudis, were believed to take orders from Al-Qaeda leader Bin Laden.
The group was also linked to the May 12 bombings at foreign housing compounds in Riyadh that killed 35 people, including nine attackers.
Four of the six identified bombers were among the 19 wanted, according to Saudi authorities.
Thirteen of the group are still sought by the authorities, including an Iraqi with Kuwaiti and Canadian citizenship.
Saturday’s car chase began at a checkpoint outside Turba, 200 km north of the northern city of Hail.
The Interior Ministry official said that Al-Ayeeri and his companion threw a hand grenade at the police during the chase, killing two officers and injuring two others.
The other passenger was identified as Abdullah ibn Ibrahim ibn Abdullah Al-Shabrami, who escaped but was later arrested north of Hail, the ministry said.
Also, Saudi authorities in the southern province of Najran foiled “a large operation to sell (illegal) weapons” last Thursday, a statement by the ministry issued on Monday said.
