JEDDAH, 6 August 2003 — Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard, yesterday reaffirmed the government’s determination to crack down on terror suspects. “We will catch them and those who are behind them,” the crown prince said addressing ministers, senior officials and a group of citizens who came to visit him here.

He commended the bravery and patriotism shown by the police officers martyred during a shootout with militants in northern Saudi Arabia last week.

Prince Abdullah’s statement came after the Interior Ministry identified six militants — four Saudis and two Chadians — killed in the clash.

The crown prince described the militants as cowards and corrupted individuals.

The ministry said one of the Saudis — Ahmed ibn Nasser Al-Dakheel — was on a wanted list of 19 Al-Qaeda suspects planning attacks on the Kingdom. The list was issued before the Riyadh bombings on May 12 that killed 35 people.

The six men were killed on July 28 in a police raid on a farm in Uyoon Al-Jawa, a province of Al-Qasim, 354 kilometers northwest of Riyadh — the biggest militant death toll in a series of clashes since the Riyadh attacks. Two police officers were also killed in the raid.

The four Saudis identified by the ministry were Al-Dakheel, Kareem Olayyan Al-Ramthan Al-Harbi, Saud Aamir Suleiman Al-Qurashi, and Muhammad Ghazi Saleem Al-Harbi. The Chadians were Isa Kamal Yousuf Khater and Isa Saleh Ali Ahmed.

The six were wanted by security agents for their involvement in a shootout in Makkah’s Khalediya district two months ago, the ministry said.

“Another Saudi wanted person, identified as Ibrahim ibn Abdullah Khalaf Al-Harbi, was arrested after he being injured,” the statement added.

The statement said police arrested four persons — Abdullah Hilal Al-Harbi, Muhammad Hilal Al-Harbi, Dhaifallah Hilal Al-Harbi and Abdul Ilah Hilal Al-Harbi — for providing shelter to the wanted men.

The ministry urged the remaining wanted militants to surrender but vowed it would continue its hunt for them.

It also warned the public against sheltering or sympathizing with wanted terror suspects.

Security officers confiscated 12 guns, 17 locally-made bombs, 17 cases of ammunition, 835 pieces of live ammunition, six mobile phones, a number of cassettes containing incendiary material, seven knives and a quantity of women’s clothes.

The 19 individuals on the list are considered by the authorities to be part of a group that had direct connections to the Al-Qaeda terrorist network.

At least 10 of the suspects have been killed or captured, including the No. 1 figure on the list, Al-Qaeda member Turki Nasser Al-Dandani, who was killed along with three other militants in a five-hour gun battle in northern Saudi Arabia.

The suspected mastermind of the May 12 attacks, Ali Abdul Rahman Al-Faqaasi Al-Ghamdi, surrendered to authorities in July.

The 19 comprised 17 Saudis, a Yemeni and an Iraqi with Kuwaiti and Canadian citizenship. The following among the 19 terrorists are still at large: Khaled Ali Haj, Hamad Al-Shammari, Faisal Al-Dakheel, Sultan Al-Qahtani, Rakan Al-Saikhan, Othman Al-Amri, Bandar Al-Ghamdi, Abdul Aziz Al-Muqrin, and Saleh Al-Aufi.