RIYADH, 21 July 2004 — Two terror suspects were arrested after a fierce gunbattle in the capital’s northern King Fahd district late yesterday, security sources and eyewitnesses said.
They said there were no immediate reports of casualties in the shootout near Sahara Mall. The shooting came three days before the expiry of a one-month royal amnesty.
The two suspects were arrested while trying to flee a villa in a Toyota Hilux pickup. The siege was lifted after the arrests.
According to eyewitnesses, a blast inside the villa, in which the suspects were holed up, triggered the standoff. Unconfirmed reports said an explosion was heard in the villa at the intersection of Hisham ibn Abdul Malek Street and Prince Ahmad ibn Abdul Aziz Street at around 11.00 p.m.
Security forces then cordoned off the area and laid siege to the villa. A shootout erupted and heavy gunfire followed.
Residents said they saw one police car with smashed windows while the security forces were surrounding the area. They also said rocket propelled grenades (RPGs) were fired from inside the besieged house.
Some 90 policemen and civilians, many of them foreigners, have been killed in a year-long spate of shootings and suicide bombings in the Kingdom claimed by Al-Qaeda.
— Additional reporting by Mansour Al-Shehry
