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INTERNATIONAL NEWS: Saudi Security Forces Kill Oil Plant Terror Suspects

Posted on: Tuesday, 28 February 2006, 15:00 CST

By LIAM CHRISTOPHER Daily Post Correspondent

SAUDI security forces reportedly shot dead at least five suspected terrorists believed to be involved in a foiled attack on the world's biggest oil processing complex in Saudi Arabia early yesterday.

The Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya television quoted Saudi security sources as saying the forces exchanged fire with the suspected terrorists for about two hours in a suburb of the Saudi capital of Riyadh, killing five people suspected of being part of the cell that attacked the Abqaiq complex.

Police said they seized weapons and ammunition from the house in the suburb where the suspects had been hiding, the report said.

Yesterday, Saudi Arabia said two suicide bombers killed in the foiled assault were on its list of most-wanted extremists.

In a statement reported by the official Saudi Press Agency, the Interior Ministry identified the two as Abdullah Abdul-Aziz al- Tweijri and Mohammed Saleh al-Gheith and said both were on a list of 15 of the kingdom's most-wanted terrorists.

The deaths of the two mean that only four remain at large of the list of 15. Ten have now died or been killed, and one was previously arrested.

Friday's attack, the first on Saudi Arabia's vital oil infrastructure, could have been devastating. Nearly two-thirds of the country's oil flows through the Abqaiq complex for processing before export.

Two suicide bombers in explosives-packed cars traded fire with police at a checkpoint before a gate in the first of three fences around the sprawling, heavily guarded complex. One bomber collided with the closed gate, exploding and blowing a hole in the fence, a senior Saudi security official said.

The second bomber drove through the hole before police opened fire, detonating his car, the official added.

Witnesses on Friday reported that security forces traded fire with gunmen outside the facility after the explosions and that a hunt for attackers continued for hours. Saudi officials have not reported the capture of any assailants.

At least two attackers and two security guards were killed, the state news agency reported.

The Saudi branch of al-Qaida, which claimed the attack, warned in an internet statement on Saturday that suicide bombers would strike again.

Al-Qaida militants launched a campaign of violence in Saudi Arabia - bin Laden's birthplace - in 2003.

Saudi security forces have largely had al-Qaida's branch in the kingdom on the run over the past year, arresting hundreds of suspects. They killed or captured all but one of the top 26 militants on a most-wanted list issued in December, 2003, then issued the second list in June.

Saudi Arabia holds over 260bn barrels of proven oil reserves - a quarter of the world's total.

It puts out about 9.5m barrels per day, or 11% of global consumption.

Suicide bombers trade fire with police

Source: Daily Post; Liverpool

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