A Saudi man injured during the raid on the hideout of Al-Qaeda’s suspected frontman Younes Al-Hayari of Morocco receives treatment at a hospital in Riyadh, 3 July 2005, (AFP)
Riyadh, Asharq Al-Awsat- Saudi security forces have killed al-Qaeda terrorist group”s leader in Saudi Arabia 36-year-old Younes Mohamed Ibrahim Al-Hayari, the most wanted terror suspect from the list of 36 issued by the Saudi Interior Ministry.
Al-Hayari was killed during a fierce gun battle Sunday in Riyadh, an Interior Ministry official told the Saudi Press Agency (SPA).
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-Qaeda 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 on 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-Qaeda 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.
The report said six security forces personnel were slightly injured in the gun battles while weapons, munitions, communications equipment, computers and documents were seized at both locations.
Al-Hayari was reveled as al-Qaeda”s leader exclusively by Asharq al-Awsat last week also highlighting the fact that he was highly trained in military combat and received training in Bosnia. Al-Hayari was said to have entered the kingdom with a Bosnian passport, despite the Bosnian Government”s denial that Al-Hayari held a Bosnian citizenship.
The Ministry of Interior announced yesterday that Fayez Ibrahim Omer Ayyoub, another of the men on the Kingdom”s new list of 36 most-wanted suspects, surrendered to Saudi authorities upon his return to Saudi Arabia on Friday evening. Mr. Ayyoub”s family would be allowed to meet him while his case is investigated.
On June 28, 2005, the Ministry of Interior issued a new list of 36 suspects who are most wanted by the security forces in connection with acts of terrorism, with 34 still at large. Of the 26 on the most-wanted list issued on December 6, 2003, 23 are known to have been killed or are under arrest.
The hideout of Al-Qaeda’s suspected frontman in Saudi Arabia, Moroccan born Younes Al-Hayari who was killed over night by security forces in the Rawda neighborhood of Eastern Riyadh (AFP)
A picture released by the Saudi Ministry of Interior shows Younes Al-Hayari, 36, of Moroccan nationality and presumed leader of Al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia who was killed by Saudi security forces in Riyadh, 3 July 2005 (EPA)