Saudi policeman killed in clash

Saudi Arabia has suffered an intense militant campaign

Officials in Saudi Arabia say one policeman has been killed and three wounded in the latest clash with suspected Islamic militants.

An unidentified official told the Saudi news agency that security forces came under fire in Buraidah, 400 kilometres north-east of the capital Riyadh.

Two police patrols checking a report that militants were in a house were fired on as they approached the house.

The Saudi official said arrests were made and weapons found in the house.

He said that a search of the house had uncovered large amounts of explosives and weapons.

Militants believed to be linked to the al-Qaeda organisation have killed about 90 policemen and civilians, many of them foreigners, in a 15-month campaign of suicide bombings and shootings which has seriously disrupted life in the world's biggest oil exporter.