Raid Qusti • Riyadh Bureau Chief

RIYADH, 29 July 2003 — Six terror suspects and two police officers were killed yesterday in Uyoon Al-Jawa, a province of Al-Qasim, when police exchanged fire with the suspects at a farm after receiving information that wanted suspects were hiding there.

Security forces received information that a group of suspects was hiding out at a farm in the area, which was inhabited by four men, three women and six children, local sources told Arab News.

When questioned, the inhabitants denied there was anyone at the farm except members of their family. But when police heard strange noises in the house and confirmed that the suspects were in fact hiding inside, they asked them to surrender.

At that point, the suspects started throwing hand grenades at the security officers, which gave the officers no choice but to return fire. After evacuating the women and children, police engaged in a shootout with the terror suspects. As a result, six of the terror suspects were killed and one of them was injured.

Two police officers, Lt. Sattam Al-Mutairy and Sgt. Ali Gazi Al-Harbi of the Special Emergency Forces, were also killed during the shootout, and several others were injured. The people harboring the suspects were arrested.

At the weekly meeting of the Saudi Cabinet yesterday, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd praised the Kingdom’s security forces for “having foiled several terrorist acts” and hailed the “population’s cooperation with the police in the fight against terrorism”. Sources could not confirm whether the wanted suspects were among the 19 Al-Qaeda terrorists sought by the Saudi government for their involvement in the May 12 terrorist attacks.

The following 10 of the 19 terrorists are still at large: Khaled Ali Haj, Ahmed Al-Dakheel, Hamad Al-Shammari, Faisal Al-Dakheel, Sultan Al-Qahtani, Rakan Al-Saikhan, Othman Al-Amri, Bandar Al-Ghamdi, Abdul Aziz Al-Muqrin, and Saleh Al-Aufi. Last week, 16 militants who were planning terrorist attacks against Saudi targets were arrested in Riyadh, Al-Qasim, and the Eastern Province. Security forces searched hide-outs in farms, rest houses, and residential homes.

Footage broadcast by local TV showed seized weapons including automatic rifles, hand grenades, as well as bags filled with chemical substances to make explosives. Mobile phones, surveillance cameras, bulletproof vests, forged identity cards, donation boxes, computers and audiotapes were also seized. The Ministry of the Interior said that all 16 arrested were Saudi nationals aged 17 to 30. Interior Minister Prince Naif confirmed that they had links to Al-Qaeda.

On Saturday, police in Makkah arrested three suspects for being in possession of terror-related printed matter, including a fatwa advocating terrorist acts.

— Additional reporting by Khaled Al-Awadh in Buraidah