Militants Clash With Saudi Police

(AP)  Islamic militants attacked a security checkpoint in the holy city of Mecca on Thursday, killing one policeman and sparking clashes, a security official and witnesses said. One of the militants was wounded and captured, and others were holed up in a building.

The group of militants, apparently trying to enter Mecca, opened fire on the checkpoint, five miles from the mosque surrounding the Kaaba, Islam's holiest site, the official in Mecca said on condition of anonymity.

In the gunbattle that followed, one policeman was killed and several were wounded, he said. Some of the militants fled into a nearby building, and security forces poured into the area, he said.

Witnesses said militants and security forces exchanged fire behind the General Traffic Administration building. The government-run Saudi TV station Al-Ekhbariya reported that clashes were continuing and showed images of police carrying automatic rifles keeping civilians away from the scene.

The attack came about two hours after polls closed in Mecca, where voters were participating in the third and final round of nationwide municipal elections.

The number of militants involved in the attack was not immediately clear, but the official said it was large and may include fugitives who are on Saudi Arabia's original list of 26 wanted militants. Only three militants, including the current head of al Qaeda's branch in Saudi Arabia, Saleh al-Aoofi, remain at large from that list.

Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and most of the Sept. 11 suicide hijackers, has waged a crackdown against al Qaeda and other armed militants since 2003, after a string of suicide bombings.

In the first week of April, security forces waged their biggest gunbattle to date with militants, battling a band of them for three days in the northwestern desert town of Rass. Fourteen militants were killed in that fight — including two members of the most wanted list — and six others captured. A day after the battle ended, police killed another figure from the list during a raid in Riyadh.