Al Qaeda frontman killed in shootout

RIYADH – Al Qaeda’s suspected frontman in Saudi Arabia was killed in a shootout with security forces in the capital yesterday only five days after authorities put him at the top of a new list of wanted militants.

The clash in which Moroccan-born Yunis Mohammed Ibrahim al-Hayari was gunned down erupted just hours after a flying visit by British Prime Minister Tony Blair. It started with a raid on suspected militant hideouts in eastern Riyadh, continuing a series of offensives by security forces against presumed al Qaeda militants who unleashed a spate of bombings and shootings in the oil-rich kingdom, many targeting Westerners, two years ago.Hayari was killed during a clash “after security forces came under fire when they raided a suspected militants’ hideout in eastern Riyadh,” the interior ministry said.Six policemen were lightly wounded, and another suspect was arrested, it added.The shootout in the Rawda neighbourhood came hot on the heels of the ministry’s release on Tuesday of a new list of 36 wanted militants linked to the wave of violence which began in May 2003.- Nampa-AFPIt started with a raid on suspected militant hideouts in eastern Riyadh, continuing a series of offensives by security forces against presumed al Qaeda militants who unleashed a spate of bombings and shootings in the oil-rich kingdom, many targeting Westerners, two years ago.Hayari was killed during a clash “after security forces came under fire when they raided a suspected militants’ hideout in eastern Riyadh,” the interior ministry said.Six policemen were lightly wounded, and another suspect was arrested, it added.The shootout in the Rawda neighbourhood came hot on the heels of the ministry’s release on Tuesday of a new list of 36 wanted militants linked to the wave of violence which began in May 2003.- Nampa-AFP