British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw praised Saudi Arabia for its battle against terrorism and said here Tuesday that his country sought to boost co-operation in that field.
"We greatly value the determination of Saudi Arabia and its government to fight terrorism on all levels and we're seeking to deepen our co-operation there," Straw told a press conference after meeting Saudi leaders.
Straw was speaking just hours after Saudi security forces killed two men in a shootout in the capital.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal told journalists that the kingdom "has announced it's fully pledged at eradicating terrorism, and we are achieving that, we're happy."
Prince Saud was responding to a question concerning the deaths of the two men, one of them a wanted Yemeni militant, in the gun-battle on Monday in Riyadh.
The interior ministry earlier on Tuesday confirmed the deaths of Yemeni Khaled Ali bin Haj and Saudi Ibrahim bin Abdul Aziz bin Mohammed al-Mazini, killed when police returned fire after the pair had shot at security men who ordered them to stop the jeep in which they were travelling.
The Saudi minister also said his meeting with Straw helped him "explain Saudi Arabia's attitude regarding the situation in the Middle East and Iraq."