Capt. Talal Al-Manie who was killed in Tuesday’s terrorist attack.

RIYADH/QASIM, 16 April 2004 — The Ministry of Interior would not confirm a report published on the Elaph website Wednesday night that Saudi security forces arrested two wanted terror suspects in Onaiza, Qasim.

“We cannot deny the report... nor can we confirm it,” a source at the Ministry of the Interior told Arab News yesterday. But the source did confirm that an officer belonging to the Al-Mujahedeen branch of the security forces has been killed and another injured.

The Elaph website published a report late Wednesday that said security forces managed to catch two of the terror suspects involved in Tuesday’s deadly shootout that left a captain and three other soldiers dead. The report added security forces were building up their presence in the Qasim region and in surrounding provinces in an attempt to flush out the terrorist cell.

The city of Onaiza on Wednesday afternoon bid farewell to the officers killed on the Riyadh-Qasim Highway. Qasim Governor Prince Faisal ibn Bandar conveyed to the families of the officers the condolences of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd and Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard, and other top officials.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Colin Powell said in Washington that the United States had ordered non-essential US diplomats to leave the Kingdom due to heightened security fears.