Al-Qaida chief shot dead

A TOP figure in the al-Qaida linked terrorist group in Saudi Arabia was gunned down in the capital yesterday in a shootout that also killed a policeman.

Abdullah Mohammed Rashid al-Roshoud, believed to be the chief ideologist for al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, died in the clash in the al-Quds neighbourhood in eastern Riyadh, the official said.

With al-Roshoud's death, it is believed that more than half of those on a list of 26 most-wanted terrorists have been captured or killed, or have surrendered.