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By DONNA ABU-NASR
Associated Press Writer | Monday, May 24, 2004 | (No comments posted.)
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) -- Security forces arrested several suspected militants who attacked them Monday in the town of Buraida, a fundamentalist stronghold in the kingdom, government officials said.
The shootout began just before 2 p.m., according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Helicopters assisted, they said.
Several suspected militants fired from a car at security forces, who overpowered and arrested them, the officials said.
They said the attackers' car was the same one used in an attack on security forces in Buraida last week. Four wanted militants and two police officers were killed in that confrontation.
Buraida is 210 miles northwest of Riyadh, the capital. The area gave birth to Wahhabism -- the doctrine that the Saudi royal family embraced long ago as a trade-off for wielding absolute power. Some U.S. and Western officials, as well as ordinary Saudis, believe Wahhabism shaped the minds of Osama bin Laden and the 15 Saudis who were among the 19 hijackers in the Sept. 11 attacks.
In recent weeks, confrontations between Saudi security forces and Islamic militants have become more frequent.
Saudi Arabia has launched a high-profile crackdown on terrorists following attacks on Riyadh housing compounds in 2003. The government says it has foiled dozens of terror attacks in the kingdom. Most of the attacks were blamed on al-Qaida.
The most recent terror attack in Saudi Arabia targeted the offices of Houston-based ABB Lummus Global Inc. in the western city of Yanbu on May 1, killing six Westerners and a Saudi. In April, attackers bombed a security building in Riyadh, killing five people and injuring 148 more.
On Saturday, a German who worked as a chef for Saudi Arabia's national airline was shot and killed by unknown assailants. Authorities are investigating whether the attack was linked to terrorism.
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