P.K. Abdul Ghafour, Arab News Staff

JEDDAH, 27 September 2003 — Saudi Arabia yesterday identified the three terrorists killed in a shootout at a hospital compound in the southern region of Jizan. An Interior Ministry spokesman also reaffirmed the Kingdom’s resolve to continue its campaign to track down all terrorists in the country and urged the remaining wanted suspects to surrender.

He named the three terrorists who died in Jizan as Sultan ibn Jibran Al-Qahtani, Turki ibn Saeed Al-Thaqfan Al-Qahtani and Khaled ibn Muhammad Al-Shahri.

The three Saudi militants died in a shootout with security forces at King Fahd Hospital compound in Jizan on Tuesday. A police officer was also killed in the incident.

The spokesman did not disclose the names of the two terrorists who surrendered after the shooting. However, he said all were wanted by police for security reasons.

Sultan Jibran Al-Qahtani was on a list of 19 Al-Qaeda suspects issued in early May shortly before the Riyadh bombings.

The five were intending to carry out terrorist operations and were armed with machine guns and hand grenades, a ministry statement said. They were asked to surrender but started firing at security forces, it added.

It is believed that security forces earlier raided a nearby farm where a large group of suspected terrorists had been holed up.

The gunmen subsequently fled the village, in the northeast of the province on the road to Abu Arish town, and entered the hospital compound. “The security forces dealt with the situation with all available means but the terrorists continued shooting. This prompted the security men to storm the building, resulting in the death of the three (terrorists),” the spokesman explained.

He said police had confiscated seven machine guns, a handgun, 220 laser cylinders, a computer, 49 magnetized disks, two computer processors, and mobile phone handsets and chips in addition to live ammunition from the flat where the terrorists were hiding.

The Interior Ministry reiterated its warning to those who support, finance or sympathize with terrorists or give them refuge.

“There is still an opportunity for the remaining wanted suspects to surrender to the authorities,” the spokesman said.

Police have been engaged in bloody clashes with terrorists since the Kingdom intensified its crackdown on terrorists following the May 12 suicide bombings in Riyadh that killed 35 people. Jizan Governor Prince Muhammad ibn Nasser has said the Kingdom would not show any leniency in the clampdown on terrorists. He denied reports that the terrorists had taken hostages.

“Security officers took control of the situation without harming the residents despite the intense fire from the terrorists,” the ministry spokesman said.

About 3,000 hospital staff live in the large residential compound, but the residents were evacuated before the operation.

Meanwhile, the hospital administration accused the maintenance company in charge of security of failing to prevent the militants from entering the compound. It said it had instructed security guards not to allow anybody other than hospital staff to enter the facility.

But Hasan Al-Kurdi of the maintenance company said the guards were under the supervision of the Health Ministry. “We only pay them their salary,” he said.