[Washington, DC]  -- At 8:00 a.m. on Monday, November 3, 2003, Saudi security forces once again broke a potential terror cell.  Saudi forces came under heavy gunfire from terrorist suspects in Makkah.  Security forces returned fire and killed two terrorist suspects while they were attempting to escape in vehicles.  An official source at the Interior Ministry said that there were no civilian casualties and only one member of Saudi security forces was slightly injured.  The source added that operations are currently underway to apprehend other persons that may have connections to this terrorist cell.

Security forces found a number of machine guns, pistols, explosives and documents at the two sites they had surrounded. They also found weapons and explosives in the vehicles used by the terrorist suspects during their attempt to escape.

According to Saudi Ambassador to the United States, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, “Saudi Arabia is uprooting the terrorists. There is no safe place for them to hide. The brave efforts of our security forces today undoubtedly saved lives tomorrow.” 

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has arrested more than 600 individuals from different nations with suspected ties to terrorism since September 11, 2001.

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