Al-Qaeda search heats up

2004-06-20 21:30

Riyadh - Saudi security forces on Sunday surrounded a house in central Riyadh where suspected militants were believed to have fled after a brief exchange of gunfire at a traffic light, security officials said.

Police cars and armoured vehicles and a large contingent of emergency forces filled the area, and blockades were set up at all the entrances to the al-Malaz district.

Witnesses told AP that they saw shooting between suspects and police before some men fled on foot, seeking refuge in a house.

It was the same area where Abdulaziz al-Moqrin, believed to be the leader of al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia, and three other militants were killed in a shootout with Saudi security forces on Friday, hours after photos of American Paul Johnson's body and severed head were posted on a website.

Police are continuing their search for Johnson's body and the al-Qaeda militants involved in his death.

Early on Sunday, armoured vehicles and a helicopter sealed off three neighbourhoods of the Saudi capital, searching any cars that tried to leave the areas.

Meanwhile on Sunday, the group responsible for Johnson's killing and a number of other recent attacks on Westerners in the kingdom detailed the abduction of the American, saying it was facilitated by sympathisers within the Saudi security forces.

The account highlighted fears that some diplomats and Westerners in the kingdom have expressed, that militants have infiltrated Saudi security forces, a possibility Saudi officials have denied.

- AP