Reuters AlertNet Lite - Saudi police seize armed man entering Mecca mosque

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Saudi police seize armed man entering Mecca mosque

02 Feb 2007 00:19:54 GMT
Source: Reuters

RIYADH, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Saudi police arrested a man with weapons hidden under his clothes as he tried to enter the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Islam's holiest site, a Saudi security official said on Friday.

Police stopped the man late on Thursday because he appeared to be acting strangely. He was carrying a revolver and a sub-machinegun under his clothes, and was wearing what appeared to be a suicide belt but which later proved to be fake.

The man's nationality was not clear.

Militants sympathetic to Al Qaeda launched a campaign to topple the U.S.-allied Saudi monarchy in 2003. Sunni-Shi'ite Muslim violence in Iraq and Lebanon has raised fears of sectarian strife across the region.

Militants stormed the Grand Mosque in Mecca in 1979, in a rebellion that was crushed two weeks later.

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Last updated:Fri Feb 2 00:20:39 2007