Saudi forces, militants clash in Mecca
CNN.Com World ^ | Thursday, April 21, 2005 Posted: 6:53 PM EDT (2253 GMT) | AP
 

JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia (AP) -- Islamic militants clashed with Saudi security forces in Islam's holiest city Mecca and the nearby port city of Jeddah in gunbattles that killed two militants and two policemen Thursday, a day Saudis were going to the polls in the latest round of municipal elections.

It was the latest fighting in Saudi Arabia's two-year-long crackdown on al Qaeda-linked militants opposed to the kingdom's ruling family, a campaign that authorities have said they were winning with the killings of several high-level suspects over the past month.

In the Mecca battle, militants holed up on a hill in a low-income neighborhood, firing automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades at police, residents of the area said. Security forces called in helicopters that fired down on the militants, they said.

The fighting started when four militants in a car -- a driver and three others disguised in women's all-covering robes -- tried to cross through a checkpoint into the city several hours after polls closed, said Brig. Gen. Mansour al-Turki, an Interior Ministry spokesman.

When stopped, the militants tried to flee. Police captured the driver but the three others fled, al-Turki told the state-run television station Al-Ekhbariya.
 

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