The man alleged to be the leader of Al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia, Younus Mohamed Al-Hayari, was shot dead by security forces in Riyadh yesterday. Al-Hayari, a Moroccan, was No. 1 on the Interior Ministryâs recently issued list of 36 wanted terrorists. He was killed âduring a gunbattle with security forces after they raided his hide-out in an eastern neighborhood of Riyadh,â an Interior Ministry official said. Six policemen were slightly wounded in the clash.Security forces conducted two raids in the Al-Rawda district after learning that Al-Qaeda members were using houses there as hide-outs. During the first raid, two suspects were arrested without any struggle, the ministry said. âIn the second raid, security forces were shot at and exchanged fire with the militants,â the statement said, adding that the militants threw a hand grenade at security forces following the gunbattle. Two suspects were killed in the gunbattle, the ministry said. Forensic reports later established the identity of one of them as Younus Mohamed Al-Hayari, believed to be the leader of the terror network in the Kingdom. A suspect arrested in the second raid sustained serious injuries and was taken to a local hospital, sources said. The ministry said it would not reveal the identity of the three arrested suspects until after interrogations have been completed. Police also seized a large cache of weapons, ammunition, communication devices, computers and documents, which they found in the neighborhood.
Interior Minister Prince Naif said the operation was the result of extensive surveillance by the security forces, and pledged to pursue other terrorists. âWhat happened today was the result of the effort of the previous period and, God willing, we will reach the rest using the same method,â he told reporters after visiting the wounded policemen in hospital.