Saudi detainees 'plotted attacks'

Police have frequently clashed with militants in recent months

Terror suspects seized in Saudi Arabia were preparing to carry out suicide bombings across the country, a top security official has said.

They were captured in six different regions along with bomb belts and other weapons, police said earlier.

The official told reporters on Tuesday that the suspects had been trained by al-Qaeda militants in Afghanistan.

Saudi Arabia has been pursuing militants since a wave of suicide attacks on Westerners in Riyadh in May.

Those suicide bombings left 35 people dead, including the nine bombers.

"Security forces seized explosives belts, a clear indication that the suspects were bracing to carry out suicide attacks along the lines of the 12 May triple bombings," the Saudi security official, who did not wish to be named, said.

He added that it was the first time bomb belts had been recovered by police in the country.

Saudi TV has been showing off plastic explosives, home-made pipe bombs and a large number of assault rifles and ammunition captured during the police raids.

'Professionals'

Monday's announcement did not specify how many arrests were made but a spokesman for the interior ministry said a number of suspects were still on the run.

WEAPONS CAPTURED 19 kilograms of highly explosive materials 16 vests designed to carry weapons and explosives and an unspecified number of explosives belts used for suicide operations 186 Kalashnikov rifles with ammunition source: Saudi interior ministry

The ministry said the arrests were made in the capital, Riyadh, as well as the Red Sea port city of Jeddah and the Muslim holy city of Mecca, and in the provinces of al-Majmaa Shaqra and al-Bkairiyeh.

Speaking to reporters, the senior security official stressed the degree of organisation shown by the detainees.

At the Mecca site, weapons were stockpiled in a fibreglass tank which was buried underground, he said.

In al-Bkairiyeh, suspects used a well in the desert to hide their weapons.

"The manner in which the bomb-making materials were hidden suggests we are up against professional terrorists," said the official.

Bloody gunfights

Experts say that the large quantities of weapons found suggest the raids were carried out over a period of time.

The BBC's security correspondent, Frank Gardner, notes the Saudi authorities have been making a major effort to hunt down militants this year.

Since the Riyadh bombings, the authorities have arrested more than 200 people.

Seemingly endless checkpoints and rigorous searches typify the clampdown, our correspondent says, noting that heavy-handed police tactics often end in bloody gunfights.

The official who spoke on Tuesday said that only "one or two cells" remained at large after the latest raids.