seruriermarshal
07-02-2004, 05:09 AM
Another top Saudi militant killed in Riyadh shootout: police
2 hours, 19 minutes ago Add Top Stories - AFP to My Yahoo!
RIYADH (AFP) - One of Saudi Arabia's most wanted militants was killed in a shootout, police told AFP, only a day after Riyadh announced that another extremist from the kingdom's most-wanted list had been gunned down by security forces.
Two police officers and a second radical were injured in Thursday's shootout in a neighborhood in the north of the capital, police said. The militants, the second of whom died of his wounds early Friday, were not named.
The clashes Wednesday and Thursday were the first reported incidents of unrest in the country since June 23, when the authorities declared an amnesty for Al-Qaeda supporters who repented and gave them a month to turn themselves in. The terror network scoffed at the offer.
The Saudi authorities laid down a list of most-wanted Islamic radicals in December 2003, in the wake of two attacks that left 52 people dead.
The list initially comprised 26 suspects. Officially 14 of them have either been killed or jailed in a massive crackdown in which hundreds have also been arrested.
Muslim extremists have staged a wave of deadly attacks in the kingdom since May 2003, more recently targeting Westerners.
While Saudi police identified the gunman killed Wednesday as Abdullah Mohammed Rashid al-Rashud, number 22 on the interior ministry most-wanted list, Riyadh's deputy governor denied Rashud had been killed, but said the extremist gunned down was equally dangerous and sought after.
Prince Suttam bin Abdul Aziz told reporters that the dead militant was "more dangerous, wanted for many attacks in the kingdom", but would not reveal his identity.
The gunbattle, which came a week after the authorities declared that Al-Qaeda supporters who repent would be exonerated, killed Rashud, "one of the most dangerous suspects in the kingdom, who is considered an ideologue of the Al-Qaeda group in Saudi Arabia," police said soon after the shootout.
The English-language Arab News reported Thursday that he had taught at the scientific institute of Imam Mohammed Ibn Saud University in the capital, a post he had given up before disappearing several years ago.
Police said another militant was also killed in the heavy exchange involving five militants in the east Riyadh neighbourhood of Al-Quds, as well as a security man.
An interior ministry statement, however, said only one Islamic militant and a police officer had been killed. It did not identify either.
Wednesday's was the first reported incident of unrest in the kingdom since authorities declared the amnesty on June 23, which gives militants a month to turn themselves in or face a dire clampdown by security forces.
While two Islamic militants have taken advantage of the offer, Al-Qaeda said in its military publication Muwaskar al-Battar that the amnesty was a "desperate attempt to halt the jihad (holy war) in the Arabian peninsula".
Cited by Islamist websites, "Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula" said King Fahd's offer was doomed to "inescapable failure".
The ministry said that six other police officers were wounded in Wednesday's incident while a Saudi civilian and two foreigners were lightly hurt.
Arab News said two militants had been killed and while the identity of the second was unknown, wanted militant Bandar Abdulrahman Abdullah al-Dakheel, who is number 18 on the list, "managed to flee the shootout scene in a Ford Crown Victoria".
Rashud was wearing an explosives belt when he was killed, it added.
Police said security forces had earlier discovered a house used by the five in the capital's King Fahd neighbourhood and had followed the militants as they left in three cars, two of which were later destroyed in the shooting.
Stocks of arms and ammunition were recovered from the house.
The house, "where several terrorists and their families were believed to be residing" was "completely ****y-trapped and full of explosives, enough to cause a major destruction in the entire area", according to the daily.
It also said the villa was believed to house the wife of Al-Qaeda's Saudi commander Abdul Aziz al-Muqrin, who was killed on June 18 with three of his comrades shortly after websites posted photos of an American hostage they had beheaded.
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From (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1504&ncid=1504&e=3&u=/afp/20040702/ts_afp/saudi_unrest_040702064648)
2 hours, 19 minutes ago Add Top Stories - AFP to My Yahoo!
RIYADH (AFP) - One of Saudi Arabia's most wanted militants was killed in a shootout, police told AFP, only a day after Riyadh announced that another extremist from the kingdom's most-wanted list had been gunned down by security forces.
Two police officers and a second radical were injured in Thursday's shootout in a neighborhood in the north of the capital, police said. The militants, the second of whom died of his wounds early Friday, were not named.
The clashes Wednesday and Thursday were the first reported incidents of unrest in the country since June 23, when the authorities declared an amnesty for Al-Qaeda supporters who repented and gave them a month to turn themselves in. The terror network scoffed at the offer.
The Saudi authorities laid down a list of most-wanted Islamic radicals in December 2003, in the wake of two attacks that left 52 people dead.
The list initially comprised 26 suspects. Officially 14 of them have either been killed or jailed in a massive crackdown in which hundreds have also been arrested.
Muslim extremists have staged a wave of deadly attacks in the kingdom since May 2003, more recently targeting Westerners.
While Saudi police identified the gunman killed Wednesday as Abdullah Mohammed Rashid al-Rashud, number 22 on the interior ministry most-wanted list, Riyadh's deputy governor denied Rashud had been killed, but said the extremist gunned down was equally dangerous and sought after.
Prince Suttam bin Abdul Aziz told reporters that the dead militant was "more dangerous, wanted for many attacks in the kingdom", but would not reveal his identity.
The gunbattle, which came a week after the authorities declared that Al-Qaeda supporters who repent would be exonerated, killed Rashud, "one of the most dangerous suspects in the kingdom, who is considered an ideologue of the Al-Qaeda group in Saudi Arabia," police said soon after the shootout.
The English-language Arab News reported Thursday that he had taught at the scientific institute of Imam Mohammed Ibn Saud University in the capital, a post he had given up before disappearing several years ago.
Police said another militant was also killed in the heavy exchange involving five militants in the east Riyadh neighbourhood of Al-Quds, as well as a security man.
An interior ministry statement, however, said only one Islamic militant and a police officer had been killed. It did not identify either.
Wednesday's was the first reported incident of unrest in the kingdom since authorities declared the amnesty on June 23, which gives militants a month to turn themselves in or face a dire clampdown by security forces.
While two Islamic militants have taken advantage of the offer, Al-Qaeda said in its military publication Muwaskar al-Battar that the amnesty was a "desperate attempt to halt the jihad (holy war) in the Arabian peninsula".
Cited by Islamist websites, "Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula" said King Fahd's offer was doomed to "inescapable failure".
The ministry said that six other police officers were wounded in Wednesday's incident while a Saudi civilian and two foreigners were lightly hurt.
Arab News said two militants had been killed and while the identity of the second was unknown, wanted militant Bandar Abdulrahman Abdullah al-Dakheel, who is number 18 on the list, "managed to flee the shootout scene in a Ford Crown Victoria".
Rashud was wearing an explosives belt when he was killed, it added.
Police said security forces had earlier discovered a house used by the five in the capital's King Fahd neighbourhood and had followed the militants as they left in three cars, two of which were later destroyed in the shooting.
Stocks of arms and ammunition were recovered from the house.
The house, "where several terrorists and their families were believed to be residing" was "completely ****y-trapped and full of explosives, enough to cause a major destruction in the entire area", according to the daily.
It also said the villa was believed to house the wife of Al-Qaeda's Saudi commander Abdul Aziz al-Muqrin, who was killed on June 18 with three of his comrades shortly after websites posted photos of an American hostage they had beheaded.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1504&ncid=1504&e=3&u=/afp/20040702/ts_afp/saudi_unrest_040702064648)