Al-Qaida militant killed in Riyadh shootout

A firebrand cleric who issued religious decrees for an al-Qaida-linked terrorist group has been killed during a car chase and shootout with Saudi police that also killed a policeman.

Abdullah Mohammed Rashid al-Roshoud, believed to be the chief ideologue for al-Qaida in the region, died in the clash in the al-Quds neighbourhood in eastern Riyadh yesterday, a security official said.

The clash followed Saudi Arabian King Fahd’s offer last week to not execute militant fugitives who surrendered to police within one month. They would still face trial, however.

Al-Roshoud called for a holy war against the Saudi royal family and Western interests in the Persian Gulf.

He is the latest high-ranking member of an al-Qaida-linked group killed in Saudi Arabia’s crackdown on homegrown militants following a spate of terrorist attacks.

A former high school professor of Islamic studies, al-Roshoud was known for writing statements on Islamic internet sites and issuing fatwas, or religious edicts, justifying terrorist attacks against the Saudi government and foreign influences in the kingdom.

With his death, at least 10 of the 26 militants on a most wanted list have been killed, including the June 18 killing of Abdulaziz al-Moqrin, al-Qaida’s leader in Saudi Arabia.

At least one other person on the list was believed to have been wounded and arrested earlier this month, while another, Othman Hadi Al Maqboul al-Amri, surrendered to Saudi authorities on Monday following Fahd’s amnesty announcement.

An Interior Ministry statement said one militant – apparently al-Roshoud – and one policeman were killed in yesterday’s clash and six other security personnel were injured. Three bystanders, including one Saudi citizen, were also wounded in the afternoon attack.

The Interior Ministry said police first noticed several suspicious people carrying weapons as they left a safe house also used for making explosives and got into a car in the northern Riyadh suburb of King Fahd.

Security forces called on the men to stop but they refused and shot at the police, who returned fire.

A car chase ensued, followed by a gun battle. Another militant fled the scene in a stolen car.

Security forces sealed off the neighbourhood, and police helicopters, patrol cars and ambulances converged on the scene.