Saudi forces shoot dead six al-Qaida men http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,329512506-110491,00.html Saudi security forces stormed a suspected al-Qaida hideout in the capital early today, killing six militants in a gun battle, according to the interior ministry and local media. One policeman also died in the clashes and a seventh suspect was injured and arrested, the ministry said. The ministry's statement, carried by the official Saudi news agency, said security forces had chased seven members of a "deviant" group to a house in al-Nakheel district of Riyadh. "Deviant" is the term normally used by Saudi authorities to describe supporters of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network. The house was "a hideout for crime, corruption, and a base for the plots of aggression and outrage," the statement said. Saudi television showed police removing several vehicles from the scene, some of them damaged in the clash, as officers carried away what appeared to be bags of evidence. Saudi-owned al-Arabiya television quoted security sources as saying the militants were on the verge of launching unspecified attacks. "In the early morning hours, security forces pursued the seven members of the group ... to a house in the Nakhil district ... and immediately came under heavy automatic weapons fire," the ministry statement said. "One security man was martyred in the incident and there were some injuries among the ranks of security forces." After denying for several years that insurgents were operating in the kingdom, Saudi Arabia launched an aggressive anti-terrorism campaign in May 2003 after suicide bombers linked to al-Qaida attacked three residential compounds in Riyadh. Since then, attacks have continued, though less frequently than before, and the authorities' efforts to track down the militants appear relatively successful, with most of those named in two wanted lists now killed or captured. Cornered militants usually resist arrest, and the ensuing gun battles have often resulted in deaths and injuries among the police. In the most recent major incident, last February, security forces foiled an attack on the world's largest oil-processing facility, at Abqaiq, in the east of the kingdom. Two vehicles carrying the name of the state oil company, Saudi Aramco, but packed with explosives, drew up near the plant. Gunfire broke out when they were challenged by guards and at least one of the vehicles blew up.
