Saudis kill top terror suspect

Saudi security forces killed one of the country’s most wanted terrorist suspects and a second militant in a gun battle in a Riyadh suburb today.

The dead man was identified as Ibrahim Mohammed Abdullah al-Rayes, who was on a list of the country’s 26 most wanted men that the Interior Ministry released on Saturday.

The ministry had said the men were all connected to recent suicide bombings in the capital.

Security forces acting on a tip approached al-Rayes’ hideout in a petrol station, the ministry said. It said the security forces were fired on from the station and returned fire.

A false passport and a grenade were found on al-Rayes’ body, the statement said. It said three other grenades, a machine gun, three pistols and ammunition were found in the hideout.

Earlier, a security official, said a second militant was killed in the clash. Witnesses said one man was arrested.

On Saturday, the Saudi government published the names and photographs of 26 men it described as the country’s most wanted terrorists suspects and offered a £150,000 reward for the capture of any of them.

It said the suspects were connected to recent “terrorist events,” referring to attacks last month and in May that the Saudi and US governments blamed on Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida terrorist network.