Saudi militants linked to Bin Laden

Five Islamic militants killed in a shoot-out with Saudi police in the holy city of Mecca were linked to Osama bin Laden and the Riyadh suicide bombings, officials said today.

Two police were shot dead at a checkpoint shortly before a fierce gun battle erupted during a raid on a booby-trapped apartment.

Officials said the operation had averted “an imminent terrorist act”.

One said he believed the suspects were “members of al-Qaida cells” because of similarities between weapons they used and how they “immediately shoot at the police when cornered”.

He also believed they were linked to the suicide bomb attacks at Western residential compounds in the capital on May 12 that killed 35 people, including nine Americans and two Britons.

Officials said two Chadians, an Egyptian and a Saudi were among at least five people arrested in the raid. Several other suspects were picked up later in Mecca, they said.

The apartment was rigged with explosives and ready to explode, police said. Inside, they found 72 bombs of different sizes semi-automatic rifles, knives, communication devices, bomb-making materials and masks.

No details of the alleged plot were given, and the officials did not say what nationality the dead fighters were.

Five security agents and four bystanders were slightly injured.

One official said the suspects were planning to carry out attacks in Mecca, Islam’s holiest city. He did not identify any intended targets.

Security was unusually tight yesterday, with troops searching cars at checkpoints throughout Mecca.

Police also patrolled around the city’s Al-Nur hospital, where those wounded on Saturday night were taken.

Saturday night’s raid took place in a suburb about three miles from the main Mecca mosque.

Police manning a checkpoint tried to stop a car carrying the militants, who then fired at the officers, killing two of them, before fleeing to the al-Khalidiya apartment block.

Mecca is 450 miles west of Riyadh. As the birthplace of Islam’s seventh century prophet Muhammad, it welcomes millions of Muslim pilgrims each year.

Saudi authorities have cracked down on suspected militants since the Riyadh bombings, which were seen as attacks not just against foreigners but also the ruling Saudi royal family for its close ties to the United States.

US and Saudi investigators have been jointly probing the bombings, which were linked to Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida.

Saudi’s interior minister has said at least 30 people are linked to the bombings, including people currently in custody and those who died during or following the attacks. It is unclear how many people have been arrested.

On May 31, Yosif Salih Fahd Ala’yeeri was killed in a gunfight with police in the northern Saudi city of Hael. Ala’yeeri was allegedly carrying a letter written by al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden.

He was among 19 al-Qaida suspects wanted following the May 6 discovery of a Riyadh weapons cache.

The group was said to be taking orders directly from bin Laden and was linked to the May 12 bombings.

Earlier this month, Saudi authorities announced several arrests in Medina, Islam’s second holiest city.

Twelve men and three women with weapons, bomb-making chemicals and thousands of dollars in cash were arrested.