A policeman was killed in an armed confrontation with a drug trafficker in Wadi Dawasser, 450 km south of Riyadh, on Thursday.

A spokesman for the Anti Narcotic Directorate said: ''A drug trafficker fired at and killed an anti-narcotic policeman when a team of security forces went to raid the house of the trafficker in Wadi Dawasser. In the return fire the suspect was wounded and arrested. He was taken to hospital for the treatment of the gunshot injuries.''

The spokesman added that Sgt. Aun Al-Shahrani, the anti-narcotic officer, died in hospital where he was rushed to when he was hit by a bullet from the drug trafficker's Kalashnikov riffle.

The Kingdom has strict laws prohibiting drug trafficking. Drug trafficking is a capital crime. Despite strict laws, however, illicit trafficking takes place through underground channels.