JEDDAH, 23 February 2004 — One of the terrorist suspects on the Kingdom’s most wanted list, Aamir ibn Mohsen Al-Shahri, died after being wounded in a clash with security forces more than three months ago, the Interior Ministry said yesterday.
The ministry said DNA tests on a body found in a grave north of Riyadh showed it was Al-Shahri’s. The man died of chest wounds in late December. “A medical report issued on Thursday said tests had confirmed the body was his,” a ministry statement said.
The ministry said Al-Shahri, who suffered fractures and internal bleeding, was taken to one of the extremists’ “dens” and treated by “primitive means,” eventually dying in late December. His friends buried him between Riyadh and Qasim, the statement said. It also said that security forces had been able to track down “elements affiliated with the misled group (of terror suspects) and break into their dens,” including the place where Al-Shahri was kept until his death.
Twenty-three militants are still being sought more than two months after authorities offered rewards of up to SR7 million for information leading to their arrest.
Security forces in Riyadh are still searching for a bomb-laden car more than a week after announcing militants were preparing it for a “criminal act” and appealing for public help.
