JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia, March 1 (UPI) -- Al-Qaida's operations chief in Saudi Arabia was one of five terrorists killed in Riyadh earlier this week during a shootout with security forces.
Arab News, quoting an Interior Ministry statement, said Fahd Faraj Al-Joweir, 36, had taken part in last Friday's failed attempt to blow up the oil processing plant in Abqaiq.
Al-Jower was shot to death with four other terror suspects Monday when security forces staged a raid on a villa in the Al-Yarmouk district of Riyadh, in which they recovered explosives, rocket propelled grenades, cash, fake documents and communications and navigation equipment.
Three Asian guest workers were also killed and three others injured during the operation when the vehicle in which they were traveling was mistakenly fired upon within a cordoned off zone.
Authorities said a sixth terror suspect was taken into custody in the Riyadh raid but declined to disclose his identity.
Al-Joweir took control of al-Qaida in Saudi Arabia following the death in July of Moroccan Younis Al-Hayari in a shootout with police.
The attack on the refinery - the largest in the world - was foiled when security guards opened fire on two vehicles as they sped towards it. Al-Qaida, in a statement posted on the Interrnet, claimed credit on the attempt and said more attacks on oil installations would follow.
