Saudis arrest four after clashes in Riyadh

RIYADH: Saudi guards arrested four gunmen on Saturday night after an exchange of fire outside a housing compound in the capital Riyadh where many Western expatriates live, security sources said.

The clashes were the first since militants killed five Westerners in a shooting earlier this month in the Saudi petrochemical hub of Yanbu, and the latest in the wave of militant violence rocking the birthplace of Islam.

There was no immediate word on casualties but security sources said no expatriates were injured in the shooting, which took place at around 17:30 GMT outside the Kingdom City Compound, an exclusive residential complex.

“There was a commotion on the waste ground next to the compound. There were shots fired from there. The National Guard engaged them in a fire fight,” one source said. Residents said security was tightened at the compound after the shooting and no one was allowed in or out.

Meanwhile, a Canadian wounded two weeks ago in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia, during an attack that killed five of his colleagues, has died in a Texas hospital, a Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman said Saturday.“He succumbed to his wounds,” Andre Lamay said.—Agencies

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