The Washington Times
  • Subscribe
  • Times News Services
  • RSS
  • Mobile Headlines
  • e-edition
  • E-MAIL ALERTS
  • REGISTER
  • LOG IN
  • E-MAIL ALERTS
  • WELCOME
  • Your Profile
  • Log Out
  • Front Page Image
  • Classifieds
  • Autos
  • Real Estate
  • Jobs
  • Special Sections
  • Customer Service
  • Home
  • News
  • Opinion
  • Sports
    • NFL
    • NBA/WNBA
    • MLB
    • NHL
    • Tennis
    • Golf
    • Motorsports
    • Soccer
    • NCAA
    • Olympics
    • Outdoors
    • Other
  • Culture
    • Home & Living
    • Family & Kids
    • Fashion
    • Food
    • Travel
    • Health
    • Washington Visitors
    • Books
    • Military History
    • Life
    • Auto
    • TV Listings
    • Movie Listings
    • Death Notices
    • Entertainment
  • Themes
  • Communities
  • Shopping
    • Stores
    • Coupons
    • Daily Double
    • Promotion
    • How It Works
  • Videos
    • Two Guys
    • Birnbaum on Washington
    • Liz Glover
    • Amanda Carpenter
    • Morning Briefing
    • Documentaries
    • Joe Giganti
    • Video Game Minute
  • Podcasts
    • About Headlines
    • Audio and Radio
    • America's Morning News
  • Sports

    KNOTT: Pollin honored as a D.C. treasure

  • Sports

    Jamison lights fire under Wizards

  • Politics

    Uninvited White House guests met Obama in line

  • Sports

    Wife aids Woods after SUV crash

  • National

    Volunteers for drug trials hard to find

  • Business

    Dubai debt crisis rocks U.S., Asia markets

  • World

    Piracy threatens fishermen in Yemen

Monday, June 16, 2003

Saudi authorities thwart terror attack

Rate this story

Average 0.00
after 0 votes
Login or register to rate this story

  • Font Size -+
  • Print
  • Email
  • Comment
  • Tweet this!
  • Share
  • Article
  • Comments ()
  • Click-2-Listen
  • Videos

More Stories

  • 3 Americans die in cargo plane crash in China
  • White House: Ticketless couple met Obama
  • Atlantis, crew of 7 back on Earth
  • Uninvited White House guests met Obama in line

By

MECCA, Saudi Arabia -- The Saudi government said yesterday that it foiled a terrorist attack with an overnight raid on a bomb-filled, booby-trapped apartment in the holy city of Mecca that left five suspects and two security agents dead.

It was not clear if the raid was linked to Saudi Arabia's crackdown since suicide bomb attacks May 12 targeting Western residential compounds in the capital, Riyadh. The attacks, blamed on al Qaeda, killed 26 persons, including nine Americans. Nine Saudi attackers also died.

At least five persons were arrested in the raid, including two Chadians, an Egyptian and a Saudi, a Saudi Interior Ministry official said.

The unidentified official, whose remarks were carried by the official Saudi Press Agency and state television, said a number of other suspects also were arrested in Mecca, 450 miles west of the capital, after the raid. He did not elaborate.

About 9:30 p.m., Saudi security agents broke into an apartment in the al-Khalidiya district, about three miles from Mecca's main mosque, where "a group of terrorists ... were preparing an imminent terrorist act," the official said. He did not say what the intended target was and gave no other details on the plot.

Five suspects were killed in a gunbattle initiated by the group in the apartment, he said. Two police officers were killed and five injured, he added, and four bystanders were slightly injured.

The official said the apartment was booby-trapped with explosives. About 70 bombs of different sizes were found in the apartment, along with a number of weapons, including semiautomatic rifles and knives. Police also found communication devices, bomb-making materials and masks in the apartment.

Saudi authorities, accused of acting too slowly against Islamic extremism after the September 11 attacks, have taken pains to show their commitment to fighting terrorism in the kingdom, the birthplace of Osama bin Laden and 15 of the 19 hijackers who carried out the attacks.

In a report yesterday, the Saudi newspaper Okaz said the violence started when traffic police tried to stop a car whose occupants fired on officers and fled to the apartment building.

12Next »

Post a comment

There are comments on this article, submit your opinion!

Commenting is disabled for this entry.
If you feel there is still something worth mentioning about this entry please contact the author or the site admin.

Ask a Question

You Report

Do you have another point of view, photos, audio, video or more information about a story?

Top Stories

Most Read

  1. EDITORIAL: Hiding evidence of global cooling
  2. EDITORIAL: The global-cooling cover-up
  3. Climate 'czar' says hacked e-mails don't change anything
  4. Wife aids Woods after SUV crash
  5. PRUDEN: Trouble afoot for high priests
More Top Stories »
  1. In tobacco-loving Virginia, bars give up the habit
  2. Grade-schooler unearths fossil at dinosaur park
  3. Robotic hamster holiday craze
  4. Climate czar rejects doctored data claims
  5. Fenty's approval in D.C. divided by race

Most Shared

  1. EDITORIAL: The global-cooling cover-up
  2. PRUDEN: Trouble afoot for high priests
  3. EDITORIAL: Hiding evidence of global cooling
  4. University bubble bursting?
  5. In tobacco-loving Virginia, bars give up the habit
More Top Stories »
  1. The United Socialist States of America
  2. Robotic hamster holiday craze
  3. We ain't seen nothing yet
  4. Dubai debt crisis rocks U.S., Asia markets
  5. Finance mavens gloomy

Most Commented

  1. EDITORIAL: The global-cooling cover-up
  2. Climate 'czar' says hacked e-mails don't change anything
  3. PRUDEN: Trouble afoot for high priests
  4. Crashers probe may become criminal investigation
  5. Fenty's approval in D.C. divided by race
More Top Stories »
  1. Ads add heat to health care debate
  2. Grayson's Senate filibuster petition faulted
  3. EDITORIAL: Hiding evidence of global cooling
  4. Health, climate bills seen to stifle hiring
  5. Climate czar rejects doctored data claims

Listen to Washington Times Radio

  • America's Morning News

    with John McCaslin and Melanie Morgan

Blogs & Columns

  • Hot Button Blog

    RNC: Breast cancer recommendations may lead to 'rationing'

  • Belief Blog

    Evangelicals OK civil disobedience

  • Out of Context

    Foods that might kill libido

  • On the Fly

    United lifts some 'award' blocking

  • Technology

    Facebook wins round against phishing spammer

  • Redskins 360

    Grimm a semifinalist

  • SNOBlog

    Beyond 'Woody'

Videos

Advertising Links
TWT Store
  • e-edition
  • Print Edition
  • Weekly Washington Times
TWT Affiliates
  • Middle East Times
  • Golf
  • UPI
  • Arbor Ballroom
  • Washington Times Global
  • About TWT
  • Press Room
  • F.A.Q.
  • Work for TWT
  • Advertise
  • Sponsors
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Site Map

All site contents © Copyright 2009 The Washington Times, LLC.