A rchive Date
[ 15-06-2003 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ Saudi Arabia ]
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[http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2003/06/15/112029-ap.html
Raid in Mecca kills five suspected terrorists
By FAIZA AMBAH
Sun, June 15, 2003
MECCA, Saudi Arabia (AP) - Saudi troops and security agents raided a Mecca apartment building where terror suspects had holed up, killing five of the suspects, arresting seven - including one wearing a suicide bomb belt - and seizing a large cache of weapons, a Saudi newspaper reported Sunday.
Five police officers and security agents were killed in the Saturday night violence that started when traffic police tried to stop a car, according to the Okaz report.
Okaz did not say if any of the suspects had been linked to the May 12 suicide bomb attacks on Western residential compounds in the Saudi capital that killed 35 people, including nine Americans and nine Saudi suicide bombers . U.S. and Saudi officials working together in the investigation have linked the Riyadh bombings to al-Qaida, the Muslim extremist terror network blamed for the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.
Saudi Interior Ministry officials contacted by The Associated Press Sunday had no immediate comment on the Okaz report of violence in Mecca, Islam's holiest city, 450 miles (720 kilometers) west of the capital. The ministry said an official statement on the raid would be issued later.
Another Saudi daily, Al-Riyadh, had a similar report from Mecca on Sunday. Saudi newspapers are independent but government guided.
Security was unusually tight in Mecca Sunday, with troops stopping cars for searches and to check drivers' identification on the outskirts and at checkpoints scattered throughout the city. A number of police patrolled inside and outside Mecca's Al-Nur hospital, where those wounded in the raid had reportedly been taken.
Okaz did not name its sources. It said those killed or arrested were later identified as "wanted terrorists," but did not name any or give their nationalities.
Okaz said traffic police tried to stop a car but were fired on and a chase ensued during which two traffic police officers were killed. Okaz did not say why the car had aroused the traffic patrol's suspicions.
The suspects fled to an apartment building about three miles (five kilometers) from Mecca's main mosque. Army troops and security agents surrounded the building and evacuated residents before storming in, killing five suspects. Among the seven arrested was a man wearing a suicide bomb belt, Okaz said.
Three soldiers were killed and five, including a colonel, wounded in the raid, Okaz said.
Okaz said a "huge" cache of weapons and explosives was found, but did not give details.
Resident said helicopters hovered over the area into the early hours of Sunday. Sunday afternoon, dozens of police and special forces troops armed with rifles could be seen around the three-story apartment building, whose facade was pocked with bullet holes. Residents who had been kept out overnight were being allowed back in the area, after first stopping at a police check point to have their identities checked and cars searched.
Saudi authorities have launched a nationwide hunt for terror suspects since May 12; officials have reported violence on only one previous occasion. On May 31, Yosif Salih Fahd Ala'yeeri was killed in a gunfight with police in northern Saudi Arabia. Ala'yeeri was allegedly carrying a letter written by al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden.
Earlier, Saudi authorities had announced the arrests of a number of people in Medina, Islam's second holiest city, 870 kilometers (540 miles) west of the capital. Saudi authorities had said the arrests were peaceful, but security in and around Medina has been tight.
Last week, a Western diplomat said at least seven suspects linked to the Riyadh bombings have died since those attacks, some in clashes with Saudi authorities. The diplomat had no details.
Mecca is the birthplace of Islam and its seventh-century prophet, Muhammad and the focus of the annual pilgrimage known as the hajj. Muhammad is buried in Medina.
 World Fact Book (CIA)]
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