Riyadh suicide bomb suspect is killed in shootout with police

AN al-Qaida member who was the top suspect wanted in the Riyadh suicide bombings was killed along with three other militants in a shootout with police yesterday, officials said.

Police swooped down early yesterday on Turki Nasser al-Dandani and his associates, who were holed up in a house in the town of Suweir, 560 miles northwest of the capital, an Interior Ministry official said.

After a five-hour standoff, the suspects ran out of ammunition.

Four suspects, including al-Dandani, were killed; a fifth man gave himself up. Earlier, officials said al-Dandani had blown himself up, but it was unclear last night exactly how he died.

Al-Dandani, a member of Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida terror network, was being pursued for his alleged involvement in the suicide bombings of Westerners’ housing compounds in Riyadh on May 12, which killed 25 people as well as nine attackers.

He became the most wanted man in Saudi Arabia after last week’s arrest of the suspected mastermind of the attacks, Ali Abd al-Rahman al-Faqasi al-Ghamdi. Al-Ghamdi surrendered on Saturday at the home of Deputy Interior Minister Prince Mohammed bin Nayaf.

Interior Minister Prince Nayef said at the time that “some important suspects” were still at large, and al-Dandani’s name was the foremost mentioned in news reports.