Terror suspects killed in Saudi Arabia shootout

By JOHN R. BRADLEY

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia - Saudi Arabia, reeling from suicide bombings that killed 35 people last month, said several suspected "terrorists" were killed and others arrested in a shootout in the holy city of Mecca.

The Okaz daily, close to the authorities, said five suspects were killed and seven held in an exchange of fire overnight at an apartment building in the middle class al-Khalidiya district. It said five policemen were killed and five wounded.

Okaz said the suspects had fled to the building after a car chase with police. Authorities found large amounts of explosives and weapons in the apartment where the men were hiding.

An Indian migrant worker who lives in the area said he was shot at overnight by three men who tried to take his car, in an apparently related incident.

"Three men with machineguns tried to take over my car. I refused to drive them, so they made me get out, then they shot back at me as they drove off," Abdul-Khaliq Raheem Sheikh, 50, told Reuters by telephone.

Sheikh, who was injured by broken glass, said police had cordoned off the area.

Residents of the nearby port city of Jeddah reported two-mile traffic tailbacks into Mecca amid security checks, including inspections of women's handbags, a rare step in a country which enforces strict gender segregation.

Saudi official sources said the suspects were wanted men, but declined to say if they were linked to last month's suicide bomb blasts in Riyadh which targeted foreigners and have been blamed on Saudi-born Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network.

Saudi officials would not confirm how many people had been killed or arrested or comment on a newspaper report that one of the arrested men was wearing a belt strapped with explosives.

"The situation is under control," an official source said.

"Security forces managed to arrest seven wanted people and five were killed during the storming of a building in the Khalidiya district where terrorist elements were thought to be," Okaz said.

Stung by US charges of not doing enough to prevent the suicide bombings, Saudi Arabia has boosted security and cracked down on militancy in the oil-rich kingdom.

The kingdom said Saturday it had arrested five more suspects in the Riyadh attacks in addition to 25 people already in detention.

Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam, last week announced the names of 12 nationals who it said were the suicide bombers who carried out the attacks.