Saudi security forces, battling a wave of al Qaeda attacks in the kingdom, arrested a wanted militant after a shootout in the northern city of Tabuk on Monday, the Interior Ministry said.
The man, described by the ministry as a wanted terrorist, opened fire on police when they tried to arrest him at a building in Tabuk. The wanted man and three security men were wounded in the clash.
A ministry statement did not say if the arrested man was on a list of 26 most wanted al Qaeda suspects. Security sources had earlier told Reuters that three militants were arrested, one of whom was believed to be on the list.
Al Qaeda militants have since May 2003 waged a campaign of suicide bombings and shootings in the oil-rich kingdom aimed at driving Westerners out and hurting the economy and oil industry.
Three suspected Muslim militants gunned down a Briton in the capital Riyadh last week in what appeared to be the latest anti-Western attack in the birthplace of Islam.
Around 90 policemen and civilians, many of them foreigners, have been killed in the violence.