The clashes occurred both before and after two car bombings against security targets in the capital on Wednesday that a Saudi newspaper said left two people dead. Saudi forces killed seven militants in a shootout late Wednesday that came just an hour after the bombings at the interior ministry and a special forces base, a ministry statement said. The other three were killed in an earlier firefight that began late Tuesday and continued into Wednesday, said the statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency. The ministry identified the two most-wanted militants as Saudi nationals Sultan Bjad Saadun al-Otaibi and Bandar Abderrahman al-Dakhil. Also among the dead was Thamer Khamis Abdel Aziz al-Khamis, a Saudi believed to be responsible for releasing internet statements from Al-Qaeda fighters in the kingdom. The ministry said another of those killed, Saud Abdullah al-Jadhii, was suspected of involvement in at least five car bombings, including a blast at security force headquarters in April which killed five people and wounded 145. Security cources said that a Yemeni among the dead, Ibrahim Ahmed Abdel Majeed al-Reemy, was believed to have acted as intermediary between Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and fighters loyal to him in the kingdom. The ministry named the other dead militants as Khaled Ahmed Mohammed bin Sanan, Badr al-Sobeii, Mohammed Abdullah Saleh al-Mohsen, Mohammed Suleiman Ibrahim al-Wakeel and Abdul Wahab Adel Abdul Wahab al-Sheridah.
| It's a start |
| Saud bin Hamoud al-Otaibi was reported to have replaced al-Oufi, al-Oufi being presumed croaked or seriously maimed. That's prob'ly how AP got the "head of al-Qaeda in Arabia" as having been knocked off. Al-Oufi was #3 on the Soddies' list, Saud bin Hamoud al-Otaibi #5, and Sultan Bjad Saadun al-Otaibi was #7. Dakheel was #18. Four of the top five on the Soddies' list are now titzup or maimed: al-Muqrin, al-Saikhan, al-Rayyes, and al-Oufi, while Al-Otaibi presumably still draws breath. |