The investigation following a raid on a suspected terrorist cell in Riyadh on Friday led to the arrest of two suspects in the nation's capital yesterday, according to the Interior Ministry's spokesman. Regarding the two suspects captured yesterday in an undisclosed location in Riyadh, Al-Turki said the arrests are linked to FridayÂ’s shootout at a residential villa in RiydahÂ’s Al-Nakhil district. The ministry spokesman did not provide the identity of the suspects, citing concerns over ongoing investigations against deviants.FridayÂ’s shootout left six suspects dead and one critically injured. A security officer was also killed and several others were injured in the shootout that began after midnight.
The ministry released the identity of the six suspects killed in the shootout. The six were identified as: Mohammed ibn Rashed Al-Jalidan, Sami ibn Saud Al-Mutari, Mishal ibn Abdullah Al-Rashoud, Humod ibn Miqbel Al-Utaibi, Saad ibn Abdullah Al-Muathir and Ghazi ibn Salem Al-Utaibi. Al-Jalidan (alias Abu Dawood Al-Najdi) and Naif Al-Shaybani reportedly figured in a tape released by Al-Qaeda in March. Al-Rashoud is believed to be the son of an alleged Al-Qaeda member, Abdullah Al-Rashoud, who figured on a list of Saudi ArabiaÂ’s most wanted deviants and was reported to have been killed in Iraq last year, the Arabic daily Al-Watan reported yesterday.
Local media reports said at least two of the men are believed to have escaped from a jail in Al-Kharj, approximately 80 kilometers to the southeast of Riyadh, in April. The reports state that other men escaped in that jailbreak, which reportedly occurred when prisoners were being transferred.
Yesterday’s arrests have brought the number of suspected militants detained in the past month to 43, which has marked a sharp increase in reported anti-terrorism activities. “The suspects share the same extremist ideology and the arrests were made under separate investigations,” said Al-Turki, but pointed out that authorities do not believe these suspects were working together as part of a terrorist cell.