JEDDAH, 18 August 2004 — Security forces have arrested four suspected terrorists following raids on their hideouts in the cities of Madinah and Buraidah, press reports said yesterday.
Al-Watan newspaper said one suspect was arrested in the holy city of Madinah, while another three were detained in Buraidah, 340 kilometers north of Riyadh.
Some 500 police officers and members of the special forces surrounded the Khalediya neighborhood south of Madinah on Monday after receiving information that weapons including explosives were found in three cars in the area. The special forces immediately surrounded the neighborhood while the police combed the area for weapons.
The siege lasted for more than four hours but no weapons were recovered. One suspect was arrested.
The Al-Jazirah newspaper reported on Monday that security forces in the northern city of Hail have arrested a group of suspected terrorists during a raid.
The gunmen, who were constantly moving between the regions of Hail and Tabuk, were detained when a security force burst into their hideout in the eastern sector of Hail. The suspects surrendered without resistance, the newspaper said.
The authorities have launched a wide-scale campaign against terrorists suspected of a spate of attacks in the Kingdom. Some 90 people have been killed and hundreds wounded, many of them foreigners, in terror attacks over the past 15 months.
A one-month amnesty, offered on June 23 to suspected Al-Qaeda extremists, resulted in only six militants turning themselves in, only one of whom figured on the 26-strong most-wanted list issued in December.
Authorities have warned that suspected militants who do not give themselves up will be crushed.
