Al-Qaeda hunt heats up
Two Saudi Arabian policemen were killed when a suspect they were chasing threw a hand grenade at them, a newspaper reported on Sunday.
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| Weekend arrests of al-Qaeda suspects in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Sudan |
Prince Saud bin Abd Al-Muhsin told al-Watan newspaper that trouble erupted late on Saturday at a checkpoint in Turba, 200 kilometres from Hail city, close to the border with Jordan.
The daily newspaper said the two suspects also seriously wounded three policemen during a separate incident in Hail on Friday.
One of the men is believed to be Abd-Allah al-Ajlan but the other remains unnamed.
New suspects
Ajlan was not among the 19 names published on 7 May – a list of those believed to be linked to al-Qaeda. It is not yet clear why the authorities sought al-Ajlan’s arrest, but the Saudi Minister of the Interior Prince Nayif Bin Abd Alaziz described him as a ‘terrorist’.
Prince Nayif said that 21 people with suspected links to the bombings had been arrested so far. Only four of the six dead bombers were mentioned on the list of 19 names published a few days before the attacks.
Saudi security forces believe they have captured the alleged mastermind of the Riyadh attacks, Ali al-Ghamdi.
Kuwait arrests
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| 19 suspects, but the list has not proved exhaustive |
Two Kuwaitis also accused of belonging to al-Qaeda network have been arrested in connection with the bombings in Riyadh.
Quoting Kuwaiti security sources, al-Rai al-Aam newspaper said the two men were arrested “in the framework of investigations” into the 12 May attacks in expatriate housing compounds in Riyadh.
Publishing only the initials of the suspects, the newspaper added: “These names were extracted from investigations by Saudi authorities with a number of suspects held in connection with the blasts.”
Sudan extraditions
Meanwhile, 17 Saudis and a Palestinian arrested in Sudan on suspicion of belonging to al-Qaeda will probably be extradited, police said on Saturday.
The group is still being investigated, Sudan Police spokesman General Adil Sid Ahmed, said in a statement.
“It is likely that the detainees will be extradited to their home countries in compliance with the relevant international agreements,” he added.
The group was recently arrested as it was “engaged in suspicious activities and carrying out illegal military training,” at a camp near Laqawa town in central West Kordofan State.
General Al-Tayib Abd Al-Rahman, the governor of West Kordofan State, said last week, however, the suspects did not belong to any organisation and that they were working for charitable religious reasons.