Seraphim
06-30-2004, 03:50 PM
By ABDULLAH AL-SHIHRI, Associated Press Writer
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - A top figure in the al-Qaida linked terrorist group in Saudi Arabia was gunned down in the capital Wednesday in a shootout that also killed a policeman, a security official said.
Abdullah Mohammed Rashid al-Roshoud, believed to be the chief ideologist for al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, died in the clash in the al-Quds neighborhood in eastern Riyadh, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
With al-Roshoud's death, it is believed that more than half of those on a list of 26 most-wanted terrorists have been captured or killed, or have surrendered.
Earlier, Saudi officials said two militants and one policeman were killed, but the number of slain militants was revised to one by the Interior Ministry.
The incident occurred during an amnesty offered last week in which King Fahd said fugitive terrorists who surrendered to police within one month would not face the death penalty.
An Interior Ministry statement said one policeman was killed in the clash and six other security personnel were injured. Three bystanders, including one Saudi citizen, were also wounded in the attack that occurred at 3:30 p.m.
The statement, carried by the official Saudi Press Agency, said police first noticed several suspicious people carrying weapons as they left a house and got into a car in the northern Riyadh suburb of King Fahd.
Security forces called on the men to stop, the statement said, but they refused and shot at the police, who returned fire.
An official told The Associated Press that a car chase ensued through Riyadh suburbs until a gun battle broke out in a street. Another militant fled in a stolen car.
Security forces closed off the neighborhood and a large number of police cars and ambulances went to the scene, witnesses said. Police helicopters patrolled the area.
Saudi Arabia has been rocked recently by suicide bombings, gunbattles and kidnappings targeting foreign workers. The attacks have been blamed on al-Qaida and sympathizers of the anti-Western terror network headed by Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden (news - web sites).
The most recent attack was the June 12 kidnapping of American engineer Paul M. Johnson, Jr., who was decapitated after the government rejected a demand to release all detained militants in the oil-rich country.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - A top figure in the al-Qaida linked terrorist group in Saudi Arabia was gunned down in the capital Wednesday in a shootout that also killed a policeman, a security official said.
Abdullah Mohammed Rashid al-Roshoud, believed to be the chief ideologist for al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, died in the clash in the al-Quds neighborhood in eastern Riyadh, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
With al-Roshoud's death, it is believed that more than half of those on a list of 26 most-wanted terrorists have been captured or killed, or have surrendered.
Earlier, Saudi officials said two militants and one policeman were killed, but the number of slain militants was revised to one by the Interior Ministry.
The incident occurred during an amnesty offered last week in which King Fahd said fugitive terrorists who surrendered to police within one month would not face the death penalty.
An Interior Ministry statement said one policeman was killed in the clash and six other security personnel were injured. Three bystanders, including one Saudi citizen, were also wounded in the attack that occurred at 3:30 p.m.
The statement, carried by the official Saudi Press Agency, said police first noticed several suspicious people carrying weapons as they left a house and got into a car in the northern Riyadh suburb of King Fahd.
Security forces called on the men to stop, the statement said, but they refused and shot at the police, who returned fire.
An official told The Associated Press that a car chase ensued through Riyadh suburbs until a gun battle broke out in a street. Another militant fled in a stolen car.
Security forces closed off the neighborhood and a large number of police cars and ambulances went to the scene, witnesses said. Police helicopters patrolled the area.
Saudi Arabia has been rocked recently by suicide bombings, gunbattles and kidnappings targeting foreign workers. The attacks have been blamed on al-Qaida and sympathizers of the anti-Western terror network headed by Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden (news - web sites).
The most recent attack was the June 12 kidnapping of American engineer Paul M. Johnson, Jr., who was decapitated after the government rejected a demand to release all detained militants in the oil-rich country.