Gunmen in Riyadh open fire on Americans
Submitted by Templar Titan on Wed, 06/02/2004 - 15:27.
Updated: 10:32 a.m. ET June 02, 2004 Separately, Saudis say two Khobar attack suspects killed RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - Violence erupted in the Saudi capital and in the western part of the kingdom Wednesday, with two Americans fired on in Riyadh and police killing two men suspected of ties to last weekend's attack that left 22 dead in Khobar. "Shots were fired at two vehicles carrying two U.S. military personnel who were driving on a Riyadh highway," the U.S. Embassy said in a statement. "One of the cars turned away quickly but the other car took fire. The driver of that car was slightly wounded. ... Both vehicles quickly returned to Iskan Village, a housing complex where a training unit working with the Saudi National Guard lives." |
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The embassy later added that the wounded driver was a U.S. military officer and that his arm was grazed by a bullet.
Most-wanted militant killed? The ministry did not identify the men but said security forces surrounded them on the Taif-Mecca highway, and killed them after they threw grenades and shot at the troops. One of the men was disguised as a woman, the ministry said, adding that no troops were injured. A Saudi security official said on condition of anonymity that one of the two men was on a list of Saudi Arabia's most-wanted militants. Al-Arabiya television, based in the United Arab Emirates, identified one of the two as Abdul-Rahman Yazji. That name matches No. 25 on the most-wanted list. It wasn't immediately clear how the two men were connected to the Khobar attack, at the end of which three gunmen fled. Saudi security forces have been following tips to their whereabouts, but information had been largely centered on the eastern region where the Khobar attack occurred. Taif is 700 miles southwest of Khobar. The ministry stated that "surveillance of those who carried out the criminal attack in Khobar resulted in tracking down the movements of key elements connected to this incident." Saudi television showed brief footage of what it said was the encounter, with helicopters taking part in the operation. The broadcast showed two bodies on stretchers, covered in bloodstained white sheets, being carried away by security forces.
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