Two militants blow themselves up in police crackdown in Saudi Arabia

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, November 07, 2003

Two militants blow themselves up in police crackdown in Saudi Arabia

Two Muslim militants wanted by the Saudi authorities blew themselves up in Shara'e district, Mecca,south-west Saudi Arabia, the Saudi Interior Ministry said Thursday evening.

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Two Muslim militants wanted by the Saudi authorities blew themselves up in Shara'e district, Mecca,south-west Saudi Arabia, the Saudi Interior Ministry said Thursday evening.

The Saudi News Agency quoted an official of the ministry assaying that the two alleged terrorists used explosives they wereholding to blow up themselves when the security forces circled them.

On Thursday morning the Saudi security forces launched a manhunt and cornered the two leading terrorists, the official said.

"When the two men opened fire, the security forces responded and ordered them to surrender. However, they refused and blewthemselves up as they felt the security men were about to capture them," he added.

The security official added that two Klashinkov rifles, apistol, two powerful bombs, five fuses and ammunitions were found with the terrorists.

"The Ministry of Interior is determined to track down any onewho wants to infringe upon the security and stability of the homeland and the security of our citizens," the official stressed.

Earlier Thursday, a Muslim militant was shot dead by Saudi police in Riyadh, with eight policemen slightly wounded, theofficial Saudi Press Agency reported.

The report quoted a Saudi Interior Ministry official as sayingthat some "terrorist elements" fired machine guns and threw bombsat the policemen who were checking a militants' hideout in the Swaidi neighborhood of Riyadh.

"The security forces responded appropriately" and killed one ofthe militants, he said, adding that eight security men were "slightly injured."

Other militants had escaped, the official said, without givingthe exact number or further details.

Thursday's raid is the second such strike on militant hideouts this week.

Saudi Interior Minister Nayef Bin Abdul Aziz said Tuesday that acell of the al-Qaida terror network had been planning to kill Muslim pilgrims in Mecca during the holy month of Ramadan but the attempt was foiled.

Two terror suspects were killed and six others were arrested bythe Saudi security forces during a shootout on Monday, theministers aid.

The suspects were spotted in two separate sites in the district of Hai Shara'i when they were planning to attack Muslim pilgrims,he added.

Saudi Arabia has launched an intensive crackdown on Muslim militants after a series of terror attacks which killed dozens of Saudi and foreign residents.

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