Militants' suicide in Mecca

TWO suspected militants blew themselves up in the holy city of Mecca to avoid arrest yesterday hours after a third suspect was killed in a shootout with security forces in the capital, Riyadh, Saudi officials said.

It was the second day of confrontations this week between the militants and police and the latest clash in a nationwide security crackdown set off by attacks on 12 May on western compounds in Riyadh.

About 600 suspects believed to be linked to al-Qaeda have been arrested since the May attacks, which killed 35 people, including nine attackers.

The two who killed themselves in Mecca detonated explosives when security forces closed in to arrest them, a security official said. They probably belonged to a terrorist cell that had clashed with Saudi police in Mecca on Monday, the official said. That cell had been linked to al-Qaeda.

Earlier on Thursday, Saudi police clashed with suspected terrorists in a narrow street in Riyadh. An interior ministry official said one suspect was killed and eight policemen were slightly injured.

Several militants were captured after the Riyadh shootout, police at the scene said. Several more militants escaped in cars, a neighbour said.

The official said security forces were searching a Riyadh neighbourhood at 4am when "a number of terrorists left the site, firing weapons and bombs".

The security forces fired back as two helicopters flew overhead, according to several residents.

The interior ministry official said the confrontation lasted about five hours.

A charred car lay in front of one house. Three cars across the street were pocked with bullet holes.