Another one bites the dust in Saudi Arabia. From AP, with thanks to Skeet Street.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Security forces killed the al-Qaida terrorist group’s leader in Saudi Arabia during a fierce gun battle Sunday in the capital, Riyadh, an Interior Ministry official told this country’s official news agency.
Younis Mohammed Ibrahim al-Hayari, a Moroccan, was killed during a raid by security forces on an area where suspected militants were hiding, an Interior Ministry official was quoted by Saudi Press Agency as saying.
The clashes took place in the Rawdah district, an upscale neighborhood in eastern Riyadh, said Interior Ministry spokesman Brig. Mansour al-Turki.
The unidentified official quoted by SPA said al-Hayari headed Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida terror network in the kingdom, which has been ravaged by terrorist attacks during more than two years of violence.
“He (al-Hayari) was nominated by his peers, following the death of those preceding him, to be the head of sedition and corruption in the land,” the official said in the SPA report.
Al-Hayari topped a list issued Tuesday of 36 most-wanted militants sought for participation in previous terror attacks in the kingdom dating back to 2003. On Wednesday, Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef warned about the possibility of more attacks.
Al-Hayari was believed to have had close ties to Abdul Karim al-Majati, an al-Qaida leader killed in April 2005.
The Interior Ministry official said security forces staged two simultaneous operations in eastern Riyadh and killed al-Hayari after a shoot-out, while arresting three other suspected militants who were not identified…