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Saudi Police Seize SUVs With Explosives
Saudi Police Seize SUVs With Explosives
ASSOCIATED PRESS
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) - The authorities seized two sport utility vehicles packed with explosives Monday on a highway outside Riyadh, a security official said.
It was the third straight day the Saudis have announced the discovery of vehicles loaded with explosives.
Last year, Riyadh, the Saudi capital, suffered two major attacks by suicide bombers driving vehicles filled with explosives. A total of 51 people were killed in the bombings, including the assailants.
The security official, who spoke on customary condition of anonymity, said that in Monday's seizure, police found the SUVs parked near a gas station on the Ramah highway, northeast of Riyadh. The explosives were hidden under fruit and vegetables.
The official declined to elaborate on the case.
On Sunday, the Interior Ministry said police had found two booby-trapped SUVs in Riyadh. They were loaded with a total of more than four tons of explosives and had apparently been abandoned by militants who had been involved in a shootout with the security forces.
On Saturday, the ministry also said police had found a vehicle containing explosives. The authorities had been looking for it since February.
The United States last week ordered the departure of nonessential U.S. government employees and family members from Saudi Arabia. It also urged private citizens to leave the kingdom. On Wednesday, the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh issued an advisory warning of "credible indications of terrorist threats aimed at American and Western interests in Saudi Arabia."
The Saudis pursued terrorists and Islamic extremists vigorously after the bomb attacks in May and November last year, with police arresting hundreds of people.
The attacks were blamed on Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida, the network accused of masterminding the Sept. 11, 2001, strikes in the United States.
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