But
the police source at the Jeddah site told Agence France-Presse (AFP)
that two of the three killed figured on that list, naming the pair as
Mustafa Ibrahim Mubaraki and Ahmad Abdurrahman al-Fadli, both Saudis.
Fierce
Clashes
The
Interior Ministry statement said security forces surrounded a site to
track down "wanted" militants in the al-Safa neighborhood of
Jeddah Thursday night, April 22, and came under fire from the
suspects.
"Security
forces responded as the situation dictated, which led to the killing
of three wanted men and the capture of (a fourth). One security man
was slightly wounded," it said.
Many
suspects, as well as security personnel, have been killed in similar
gun battles in the past year, and hundreds more presumed extremists
have been rounded up across the vast kingdom.
But
the latest incident came close on the heels of Wednesday's car bomb
which targeted a security forces building in Riyadh, killing at least
five people and wounding 145 others.
‘Deviant
Group’
The
bombing drew renewed pledges from authorities to crush militants they
brand “terrorists” as a group linked to al-Qaeda claimed
responsibility for the attack and threatened more in future.
"These
criminal acts perpetrated by a deviant minority will be dealt with
firmly until they are rooted out," Crown Prince Abdullah bin
Abdul Aziz said after the blast, the first to target an official
building since the wave of bombings began nearly a year ago.
The
Interior Ministry said Thursday the number of fatalities from the car
bomb rose to five after a security man succumbed to his wounds.
New
Strategy
Attacking
a government-run building marks a policy shift of the militants,
usually targeting foreign sites in the kingdom.
Analysts
say the U.S. withdrawal of most of its forces from the country and the
rising crackdowns on militant suspects limited the showdown between
these groups and the government.
"With
the new attack, there is no possibility of repeating the lie which
says Americans are the target," wrote Okaz daily.
"The
blast targeted the country's 'potential' and 'the sons of the
homeland'," the paper added.
Al-Watan
said the bombing revealed the spuriousness of slogans by radical
Islamists and al-Qaeda supporters who "previously justified
terrorism by (wanting to) expel the non-believers from the Arabian
Peninsula."
"Now
they are aiming their acts of treason against the defenders of the
security of the nation... who are all Muslim citizens".
Grand
mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh, the country's highest religious
authority, said the attack flouted Islamic teachings and was carried
out by "a lost minority under the cover of religion".
In
claiming the outrage, a group calling itself "Brigades of the Two
Holy Mosques in the Arabian Peninsula" said it had
"succeeded in blowing up the headquarters of the special security
and anti-terrorism forces related to the Interior Ministry."
The
group, which has made similar claims in the past, said in a statement,
posted on a website whose authenticity could not be verified, it
"will not forget the blood of the martyrs" in the
anti-terror hunt by Saudi security forces.
The
statement raises fears that the change of targets could revive memory
of gruesome attacks on government interests and senior officials in
Egypt in the early 1990s.
Dozens
of security men were killed in crackdowns on militant groups in the
country during the last three months, as a number of booby-trapped
vehicles were found ready for explosion. An Interior Ministry official
announced Sunday the detention of eight suspects.
The
attack could not be separated from the pace of reforms, still beyond
expectations of moderate Islamic groups in the Kingdom, analysts say.
However,
Abdullah Bin Saleh, a Saudi political analyst, said the crackdown has
nothing to do with the halt of reform talks recently held in the
country.
"They
want to impose their will and way of thinking; no more, no less,"
Saleh told al-Jazeera.
Security
forces had detained a number of reformists in the country, including
Media Faculty professor Salah Bin Zueir - released last year after
eight and a half years in prison.
