ABHA, 26 April 2004 — The police in Asir have arrested a gunman holding hostages at a restaurant on the Riyadh-Khamis Mushayt highway after a three-hour siege, Al-Madinah daily reported yesterday.
According to witnesses, the man, wearing a military uniform, stormed into the Zamzam restaurant and took the people inside hostage. Police arrived immediately and freed all the hostages except for one Asian worker, who was held at gunpoint.
The suspect threatened to kill the worker and blow up the restaurant if the police stormed it; he asked that the imam of a mosque in Khamis Mushayt come to the scene to talk to him. But police lifted the siege only after the worker was freed and the man arrested.
Police said the man worked in the military and was on a wanted list. They suspect that he is suffering from a mental problem.
