Saudi police and suspected Muslim militants exchanged fire in the Red Sea city of Jeddah yesterday and the gunmen were still on the run after an hours-long pursuit, security sources said.
The shooting between police and the militants, who were firing from moving cars, came nearly a week after a major al-Qaeda attack in the world's biggest oil-exporting country killed 22 people in the city of Khobar.
"Police pursued the militants but they managed to escape," one source said. "They are still hunting them down."
After initial investigations based on the car license plates, police believed the gunmen were known security suspects but were not thought to be on a central list of 26 wanted militants.
Fears about the security situation in the world's biggest oil exporter helped push world oil prices to record highs last week before producers pledged to hike output.
On Friday, al-Qaeda's top leader in the kingdom, Abdulaziz al-Muqrin, called on Saudis to support the militants' campaign to topple the US-allied Saudi monarchy.
He praised an al-Qaeda attack in the Saudi city of Yanbu in early May, the killing of a German in Riyadh two weeks ago and Wednesday's shooting on US military personnel near Riyadh.
He also rejected a Saudi claim that two militants killed near the western city of Ta'if on Wednesday had links to the Khobar attack.
"The operation in Khobar was a new victory which God bestowed upon the mujahidin and which put the Saudi government in a deep crisis," said Muqrin in the latest issue of Saut al-Jihad [Voice of Holy War], an al-Qaeda Internet magazine.
"It took the oil price to its highest levels of over US$42, while Saudi Arabia is committed to America's prosperity by providing oil at the cheapest prices."
Saudi Arabia has been battling militants of Saudi-born Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network for over a year and Muqrin has vowed 2004 will be "bloody and miserable" for the kingdom.
Saudi Arabia's top religious authority has issued an edict urging citizens and residents to inform authorities about suspected militants planning terror activities.
The edict, or fatwa, was issued on Friday by Sheik Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah Al al-Sheik, and called on "citizens and residents to inform on everyone planning or preparing an act of sabotage, to protect the people and the country from the devastating effects of these acts and to protect the planners from the results of their actions."
The edict was reported by the official Saudi Press Agency, which said it was issued following several inquiries from the public about "tragic events" in the kingdom of late and how to deal with them.
More than 60 people have been killed over the past year in terror attacks in the kingdom, and Saudi authorities since have launched an aggressive and public anti-terror campaign in an attempt to crack down on suspected militants. Dozens have been arrested and large caches of weapons have been seized.
IDENTITY: A sex extortion scandal involving Thai monks has deeply shaken public trust in the clergy, with 11 monks implicated in financial misconduct Reverence for the saffron-robed Buddhist monkhood is deeply woven into Thai society, but a sex extortion scandal has besmirched the clergy and left the devout questioning their faith. Thai police this week arrested a woman accused of bedding at least 11 monks in breach of their vows of celibacy, before blackmailing them with thousands of secretly taken photos of their trysts. The monks are said to have paid nearly US$12 million, funneled out of their monasteries, funded by donations from laypeople hoping to increase their merit and prospects for reincarnation. The scandal provoked outrage over hypocrisy in the monkhood, concern that their status
The United States Federal Communications Commission said on Wednesday it plans to adopt rules to bar companies from connecting undersea submarine communication cables to the US that include Chinese technology or equipment. “We have seen submarine cable infrastructure threatened in recent years by foreign adversaries, like China,” FCC Chair Brendan Carr said in a statement. “We are therefore taking action here to guard our submarine cables against foreign adversary ownership, and access as well as cyber and physical threats.” The United States has for years expressed concerns about China’s role in handling network traffic and the potential for espionage. The U.S. has
A disillusioned Japanese electorate feeling the economic pinch goes to the polls today, as a right-wing party promoting a “Japanese first” agenda gains popularity, with fears over foreigners becoming a major election issue. Birthed on YouTube during the COVID-19 pandemic, spreading conspiracy theories about vaccinations and a cabal of global elites, the Sanseito Party has widened its appeal ahead of today’s upper house vote — railing against immigration and dragging rhetoric that was once confined to Japan’s political fringes into the mainstream. Polls show the party might only secure 10 to 15 of the 125 seats up for grabs, but it is
The US Department of Education on Tuesday said it opened a foreign funding investigation into the University of Michigan (UM) while alleging it found “inaccurate and incomplete disclosures” in a review of the university’s foreign reports, after two Chinese scientists linked to the school were separately charged with smuggling biological materials into the US. As part of the investigation, the department asked the university to share, within 30 days, tax records related to foreign funding, a list of foreign gifts, grants and contracts with any foreign source, and other documents, the department said in a statement and in a letter to
RSS