Saudi forces clash with suspects of refinery plot

RIYADH – Saudi security forces yesterday killed five men linked to a bid to blow up the world’s largest oil-processing plant, during an armed clash in a Riyadh suburb, security forces and media reports said.

“The clashes are over. The (suspects’) lair was assaulted and we killed those we found there,” said the source, who did not know the exact death toll.Ambulances were rushed to the scene but the area around the siege house in the Al-Yarmuk suburb remained sealed off to regular traffic amid a heavy security presence.Two helicopters hovered over the scene of the hour-long shoot-out.The Dubai-based Al-Arabiya television channel reported that “all the suspects, who were barricaded in a house in the east of Riyadh, have been killed,” putting the toll at five.According to its correspondent a large quantity of arms were seized from their hideout which had earlier been besieged by security forces amid a fierce firefight with automatic arms fire and grenades.The names of the five dead men were on a Saudi most-wanted list of 36 people, the Saudi-financed TV station said.On Friday suicide bombers attempted but failed to penetrate the oil-processing plant at Abqaiq, in the oil-rich Eastern Province, but their attack left two security men dead.The two would-be suicide bombers were also killed.An al Qaeda statement posted on the Internet claimed responsibility for the attack and identified the two “martyrdom-seekers” in what the terror network claimed was a successful attack, vowing defiantly to attack more Saudi oil installations.- Nampa-AFPThe (suspects’) lair was assaulted and we killed those we found there,” said the source, who did not know the exact death toll.Ambulances were rushed to the scene but the area around the siege house in the Al-Yarmuk suburb remained sealed off to regular traffic amid a heavy security presence.Two helicopters hovered over the scene of the hour-long shoot-out.The Dubai-based Al-Arabiya television channel reported that “all the suspects, who were barricaded in a house in the east of Riyadh, have been killed,” putting the toll at five.According to its correspondent a large quantity of arms were seized from their hideout which had earlier been besieged by security forces amid a fierce firefight with automatic arms fire and grenades.The names of the five dead men were on a Saudi most-wanted list of 36 people, the Saudi-financed TV station said.On Friday suicide bombers attempted but failed to penetrate the oil-processing plant at Abqaiq, in the oil-rich Eastern Province, but their attack left two security men dead.The two would-be suicide bombers were also killed.An al Qaeda statement posted on the Internet claimed responsibility for the attack and identified the two “martyrdom-seekers” in what the terror network claimed was a successful attack, vowing defiantly to attack more Saudi oil installations.- Nampa-AFP