RIYADH, Dec 30 (AFP) - Saudi security forces have killed a total of 10 Islamist militants, including two of the kingdom's most wanted men, in two days of clashes in Riyadh, the interior ministry said Thursday.
The clashes occurred both before and after two car bombings against security targets in the capital on Wednesday that a Saudi newspaper said left two people dead.
Saudi forces killed seven militants in a shootout late Wednesday that came just an hour after the bombings at the interior ministry and a special forces base, a ministry statement said.
The other three were killed in an earlier firefight that began late Tuesday and continued into Wednesday, said the statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency.
The ministry identified the two most-wanted militants as Saudi nationals Sultan Bjad Saadun al-Otaibi and Bandar Abderrahman al-Dakhil.
Also among the dead was Thamer Khamis Abdel Aziz al-Khamis, a Saudi believed to be responsible for releasing internet statements from Al-Qaeda fighters in the kingdom.
The ministry said another of those killed, Saud Abdullah al-Jadhii, was suspected of involvement in at least five car bombings, including a blast at security force headquarters in April which killed five people and wounded 145.
Security cources said that a Yemeni among the dead, Ibrahim Ahmed Abdel Majeed al-Reemy, was believed to have acted as intermediary between Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and fighters loyal to him in the kingdom.
The ministry named the other dead militants as Khaled Ahmed Mohammed bin Sanan, Badr al-Sobeii, Mohammed Abdullah Saleh al-Mohsen, Mohammed Suleiman Ibrahim al-Wakeel and Abdul Wahab Adel Abdul Wahab al-Sheridah.
Since May 2003, Saudi Arabia has been swept by a wave of violence which the authorities blame on the Al-Qaeda network of Saudi-born bin Laden.
More than 100 people have died and hundreds more been wounded in the attacks, many of which have targeted foreigners.
12/30/2004 17:34 GMT - AFP