RIYADH, Saudi Arabia July 1, 2004 — A senior Saudi official denied Thursday that a militant killed in a shootout with police was a cleric believed to be the chief ideologist for al-Qaida in the region. A security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press Wednesday in Riyadh that the man slain during a car chase and shootout with police was Abdullah Mohammed Rashid al-Roshoud, one of Saudi's most wanted terror suspects. Saudi and other Arab TV stations and newspapers also widely reported that al-Roshoud had been killed.
But Prince Sattam bin Abdel-Aziz, the deputy governor of Riyadh, said al-Roshoud had not been killed in Wednesday's clash.
| "Wuzn't him, it wuz sum other guy." |
He stressed, however, that the militant killed was "a terrorist who was no less dangerous than him (al-Roshoud) who carried out several terrorist acts in the kingdom."
| Dangerous terrorists are their chief export |
Al-Roshoud, a former high school professor of Islamic studies, had called for a holy war against the Saudi royal family and Western interests in the Persian Gulf.
| A real story would be to find a saudi cleric who didn't |
Abdel-Aziz, speaking after burial prayers for a policeman killed in the fighting, refused to reveal the name of the militant killed Wednesday or say if he was on a list of 26 most wanted militants in Saudi. He added that a statement would be issued later.
| "I can say no more, at this time." |
Six security personnel and three bystanders also were wounded in the shootout in Riyadh's al-Quds neighborhood, an Interior Ministry statement said Wednesday.
| Wrong guy, nothing to see, move along |
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