Saudi police have shot dead a Muslim militant during a dawn raid today on a Riyadh neighbourhood.
The Saudi Press Agency quoted an Interior Ministry official as saying that eight policemen were also slightly wounded in the clash, which occurred on Thursday in the capital's southern Suweidi area.
The official said that an unspecified number of militants had also escaped. The raid is the second such strike on militant hideouts this week.
Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, has begun an intensive crackdown on Muslim militants after terror attacks that killed dozens of Saudis and foreign residents.
On Tuesday, the Interior Ministry said police had foiled a plot to target Muslim pilgrims in the holy city of Mecca and killed two militants believed to be linked to al-Qaeda during a raid on their hideout.