Saudi police arrested four Iraqi car thieves after a gunbattle on Monday in the industrial city of Jubail, an Interior Ministry spokesman said on Tuesday. "The Iraqis slipped into the country to try to steal cars and smuggle them out.
Police officers arrested them after an exchange of gunfire," the spokesman said, adding one of the Iraqis was injured and taken to hospital.
The spokesman said such incidents were not infrequent but an investigation would attempt to determine if the clash was connected to a wave of al Qaeda violence that has swept the kingdom in the past two years.
Militants have tried to overthrow the pro-Washington ruling royal family and drive Westerners out of the birthplace of Islam. At least 91 foreign nationals and Saudi civilians have been killed in the attacks.
Jubail is an important petrochemical hub on the kingdom's Gulf coast with several multi-billion dollar expansion projects in progress.
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