Saudi authorities hunt for miltiants following shootout

Saudi Arabia's interior minister said yesterday that five of the Muslim militants who battled police in Riyadh on Tuesday have been arrested but seven others were still on the run.

Prince Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz was speaking to Al Arabiya television, one of the few foreign news networks with offices in the secretive kingdom, a day after a police raid on a militant stronghold in which four policemen and an Islamist were killed.

Nayef the militants were not linked to the May 12 bombings in Riyadh, which Washington and the kingdom blame on the al-Qaeda network, but were among another group of militants who shot at police this week at a Riyadh highway rest stop.

"We are closing in fast on these terrorists and it is better for them to surrender and stop these attacks," Al Arabiya quoted Nayef as saying.

Tuesday's five-hour battle, in which automatic rifles and hand grenades were used, was the second major clash between police and fundamentalists in the capital this week.

Facing of failing to rein in militants, Saudi Arabia has cracked down on Islamists suspected of links to Saudi-born Osama bin Laden after the May 12 triple suicide attacks which killed 35 people, including nine Americans.

At least 200 suspects, including nationals from other Arab countries, have been arrested since then.

Security said more than 15 people and two policemen were wounded in Tuesday's pitched battles in the Suweidi district of Riyadh, a known fundamentalist stronghold.

They said the shooting, in which police deployed helicopter gunships, started when police tried to check a truck parked on a nearby street.

Saudi sources said on Monday police had arrested about 10 suspected militants after the rest stop shootout on Sunday. The British Foreign Office said it believed these Islamists had actually escaped and may have been targeting British interests.

A senior Saudi official in Washington, however, said those arrested made up "another major cell that were targeting a British target".

Western in Saudi Arabia say the authorities are providing unprecedented cooperation in tackling Saudi-based al-Qaeda members.