Saudi Arabia's security forces killed the man at the top of its list of most wanted al-Qaeda leaders in Riyadh yesterday, according to the kingdom's Interior Ministry.
Moroccan national Younis Mohammad Ibrahim al-Hayyari, accused of involvement in a series of attacks in Saudi Arabia, died after exchanging fire and hurling hand grenades at police, the ministry said.
Hayyari topped a list of 36 al-Qaeda suspects released by Riyadh last week. The ministry said he had helped prepare explosives and played a part in several attacks in Saudi Arabia.
"He was recently nominated by his colleagues to be the leader of strife and corruption in the land after the death of his predecessors," the statement said.
A Saudi official described Hayyari (36), who reportedly fought in Bosnia in the 1990s and came to Saudi Arabia in 2001, as a shadowy figure who was "more of a strategic leader than field commander".
He was a link to al-Qaeda outside Saudi Arabia, brought funds into the kingdom, and was friend to a Muslim scholar close to al-Qaeda's leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al Zaraqawi, the official said.
Saudi Arabia has been battling suspected al-Qaeda militants since May 2003 when they unleashed a wave of violence with triple suicide bombings at Western housing compounds in Riyadh.