April 5, 2005
CNN
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) -- Saudi forces have overpowered gunmen after a fierce three-day battle in which a top militant suspected of masterminding al Qaeda bombings in Casablanca was killed, security sources said.
They identified that militant as Abdulkarim al-Mejjati.
The clashes erupted on Sunday in Al-Ras, 300 kilometers (180 miles) northwest of Riyadh, in central Saudi Arabia.
"They (security forces) have complete control of the location. There is no resistance anymore," Interior Ministry spokesman Brigadier-General Mansour al-Turki told Reuters.
An Interior Ministry statement read on state-run television says 14 militants have been killed. Five wounded gunmen were arrested, and one has surrendered to police.
The fighting in Al-Ras was one of the longest and bloodiest confrontations in the kingdom's two-year crackdown on fighters loyal to Osama bin Laden and could prove a major setback for al Qaeda's efforts to undermine the world's biggest oil exporter.
"This is a monumental breakthrough for Saudi security forces," said Saudi security consultant Nawaf Obaid. "Not just domestically -- Mejjati was the subject of a major manhunt across Europe".
Mejjati, a Moroccan, was killed in Al-Ras alongside Saud Homoud al-Oteibi, they added. Both were on a list of 26 most wanted suspects issued by Saudi Arabia more than a year ago.
Turki told state television that the Al-Ras militants had stored "huge" amounts of ammunition and hand grenades.
Mejjati, described by Saudi media as an explosives expert, was the mastermind behind the May 2003 Casablanca bombings, according to Saudi sources. Investigators probing last year's Madrid train bombings linked him to the attacks.
Saudi officials had believed he was outside the country.
The deaths of Mejjati and Oteibi would mean only four of the original 26 fugitives remain at large, including Saleh al-Awfi, believed to have taken over leadership of al Qaeda in Saudi Arabia in June, despite being less experienced than the Moroccan.
Many casualties
Medical sources said about 100 troops were treated after the clashes, but only 14 remained in hospital.
Several men were killed or arrested when they tried to break through a police checkpoint -- in an apparent attempt to reinforce the surrounded militants.
The town of Al-Ras is in the conservative Qassim province, the heartland of Saudi Arabia's Wahhabi doctrine, which some critics say has fueled intolerance and anti-Western violence.
Saudi Arabia is the birthplace of bin Laden and 15 of the 19 hijackers who carried out the September 11 attacks in 2001.
Officials say at least 90 civilians -- many of them Westerners -- and 39 troops have been killed in the last two years, and the attacks have caused at least 1 billion riyals ($270 million) of damage.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/04/05/saudi.shootout.reut/index.html