A top alleged al-Qaeda terrorist wanted in connection with May's Riyadh suicide bombings killed himself today, a Saudi Arabian official said.
Using a hand grenade Turki Nasser al-Dandani blew himself up along with two other militants when their safe house was surrounded in northern al-Jawf province, 550 miles north of the capital, said Arabiya satellite television.
A fourth suspect who was wounded in the blast later surrendered, it said. Al-Dandani was being hunted for his role in the bombings of Westerners' housing compounds that killed 25 people, including two Britons.
He became the most wanted man in Saudi after last week's arrest of the suspected mastermind of the attacks, Ali Abd al-Rahman al-Faqasi al-Ghamdi.
Al-Ghamdi surrendered on June 26th at the home of deputy interior minister Prince Mohammed bin Nayaf.
Prince Nayef said then that "some important suspects" were still at large, and al-Dandani's name was mentioned most prominently in local reports.
US officials predicted al-Ghamdi's arrest would severely hinder al-Qaeda's operations in Saudi Arabia, and al-Dandani's death is believed likely to further cut the group's capacity to carry out attacks.