SAUDI ARABIA: Saudi Arabia has detained suspects in the devastating suicide bomb attack on a housing complex in Riyadh after vowing to strike back with an "iron fist", a diplomat close to the investigation said yesterday.
"A group of suspects in the bombing was detained. The campaign to chase the culprits started immediately after the bombing. Some were also detained and released after interrogation," the diplomat said.
He said the arrests took place in Riyadh and on the outskirts of the capital, but he did not disclose when they occurred.
Al-Qaeda is suspected of staging Sunday's attack in which at least 18 people died, including five children, and 120 were wounded. Most of the victims were Arabs.
In May, 35 people died in a triple suicide bombing on a housing complex in the capital.
Saudi officials and Washington blame al-Qaeda for the weekend attack in which bombers posing as police blew up an explosives-rigged car in the Muhaya compound. Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Washington, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, was quoted by newspapers as saying the kingdom was "in a state of war against those terrorists".
King Fahd said on Monday his country would strike with an "iron fist" against militants threatening security and stability.
The vow followed an earlier warning from US Deputy Secretary of State Mr Richard Armitage that al-Qaeda was trying to topple the Saudi royal family and the pro-Western government.
The London-based Arab magazine al-Majalla said al-Qaeda had claimed responsibility for the deadly bombing and warned of more attacks in the Gulf region. - (Reuters)