P.K. Abdul Ghafour • Arab News Staff

JEDDAH, 17 June 2003 — The Saudi security forces, who carried out two successful raids in 24 hours, have stepped up their campaign throughout the country in the hunt for suspected militants.

In the operations in Makkah, at least five terror suspects were killed, four wounded and several others arrested, including two Chadians, an Egyptian and a Saudi.

Maj. Gen. Marwan Al-Subhi, commander of the emergency forces, said his men carried out the operations in Makkah brilliantly. “They have the highest morale and carried out their mission outstandingly and with the utmost courage,” the general told Okaz.

The Interior Ministry said on Sunday that the terrorists had been planning to carry out an attack. Some newspapers said a “major terrorist bombing” had been in preparation.

Two security men were killed, while five other officers and four citizens were injured in the fighting on Saturday, a ministry spokesman said.

In the second operation, which took place on Sunday, police arrested four terror suspects who had fled after Saturday’s shootout in the Khaldiya district in Makkah, according to Asharq Al-Awsat, a sister publication of Arab News.

The Arabic daily said several suspected militants of various nationalities were hiding in Shumaysi district, 35 km south of Makkah.

Al-Jazirah, published in Riyadh, said at least 30 “terrorists” were hiding in the area and reported that one of the men had been killed, three were arrested and the rest fled.

In the building in Khaldiya, police seized 72 locally-made bombs of various sizes, in addition to several automatic rifles, guns, ammunition, communication devices, chemicals for manufacturing bombs and masks.

Sunday’s was the third bloody confrontation between armed militants and Saudi security forces in the past two weeks and reflects the Kingdom’s new resolve to fight terror.

A crackdown on extremists gained steam in the Kingdom after suicide bombings killed 35 people, including nine bombers themselves, at three expatriate compounds in the capital on May 12.

Analysts say the Riyadh blasts provoked popular support for the Kingdom’s decision-makers to push ahead with a determined program to eradicate the terror infrastructure and its ideology.

“Following the Sept. 11 attacks and the Riyadh blasts, the Kingdom appears to have a green light to crack down on the foundations of terror,” said Turad Al-Amri, head of Saeed Al-Amri Center for Strategic and Security Studies. “The Saudi masses, including the religious establishment, are lending strong support to the security forces to root out terrorists. That’s why they are achieving great success,” the AFP news agency quoted Amri as saying.

Okaz newspaper also welcomed the raid, noting the security services had managed to pre-empt another criminal act by the terrorists.

“The achievement is evidenced by the fact that the fall of the Khaldiya group has foiled an imminent terror attack,” the paper said in an editorial.

Al-Amri believes the latest operations indicate that the security agencies are closing in on the structures of suspected terror groups.

Police carried out a major raid in late May in the holy city of Madinah, arresting 15 men and women suspected of having links with the Riyadh blasts. On May 31, police in the northern province of Hail clashed with two fugitives, killing one and arresting the other after a clash in which two security men were killed and three others wounded. Saudi security is still searching for other suspects, including 10 members of a cell of 19 discovered just a few days before the Riyadh bombings.

Interior Minister Prince Naif on Saturday blamed Osama Bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda terror network for the May 12 attacks, and announced that some 30 suspects had been rounded up since the Riyadh bombings.

The Saudi government has repeatedly pledged to root out terrorism and warned the crackdown would include hardline ideologists and Al-Qaeda sympathizers even at sensitive sites such as Makkah and Madinah.

Several newspapers raised the issue and condemned the militants for abusing the holy cities. “We have been shocked by the brutal crime that took place the day before yesterday in Makkah, this safe and sacred place,” said Al-Bilad.

Okaz carried interviews with local residents condemning the “terrorists” for using the city of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).

Al-Amri said he believed the “non-military” war on terrorism has already begun and could last for several years. It will involve reorganizing charitable societies, fund-raising operations and combating hard-line ideology.

Three extremist clerics, Ali Khudair Al-Khudair, Ahmad Al-Khaledi and Nasser Al-Fahd, who have issued religious edicts inciting terror attacks against Westerners and in support of the Riyadh bombings, were among those arrested in Madinah.