Reply #11: Militants Clash With Police in Riyad

[allemand]

Wednesday December 29, 2004 9:46 PM

By ABDULLAH Al-SHIHRI

Associated Press Writer

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) - Militants in the Saudi capital launched coordinated car bombings against the police ministry and a troop recruitment center and battled security forces in attacks that caused oil prices to jump and signaled that Muslim extremists are keeping up their fight despite a fierce Saudi crackdown on al-Qaida.
Seven militants were killed in the gunbattle with police in a northern district of Riyadh, Al-Arabiya television reported. The clash broke out about the same time as the the two car bombings - a remote control blast near the Interior Ministry and a suicide attack on the recruitment center.

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While damage to the Interior Ministry was minor, it was a bold assault on the government body at the center of Saudi Arabia's war on al-Qaida and other Islamic extremists. <...> The blast rocked the ministry building and shattered windows in it and neighboring buildings. In addition to the Interior Ministry, the Civil Service Ministry, a post office and a luxury hotel are in the area, known as al-Murabaa. The Interior Ministry, a massive, modern high-rise, was shown with its windows brightly and few signs of damage lit in pictures broadcast from the scene by Saudi television. Damaged cars, including a blood-splattered taxi, sat outside.

A half hour after the first blast and five miles away, a second explosion went off at a center for recruiting emergency troops, police said. Saudi TV said two guards and two bystanders, described as foreigners, were injured.

More:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4700358,00.html