RIYADH: Saudi authorities have arrested 33 ‘terror’ suspects, including nine American citizens, over the past days, the Saudi Gazette newspaper reported on Sunday.

Four Americans were arrested on Monday and five others in the last four days, the paper reported.

Those arrested included 14 Saudis, three Yemenis, two Syrians, an Indonesian, a Filipino, an Emirati, a Kazakhstan national and a Palestinian, the paper said.

It did not say if any of the “terror suspects” was linked to the militant Islamic State (IS) group, which has claimed several deadly attacks against security forces and Shias in the kingdom in recent months.

On Friday, a suicide bomber attacked a Shia mosque in Eastern Province killing four people before worshippers disarmed and tied up his accomplice who had fired on them. IS did not claim that attack.

The Saudi Gazette said some 532 IS suspects accused of plotting attacks in the kingdom are being questioned ahead of their trial at the criminal court in Riyadh. They are members of six cells busted in “pre-emptive” raids across the kingdom and include a Saudi woman and a Filipina, according to the paper.

Also on Sunday, the Saudi interior ministry said they were searching for nine suspects allegedly involved in an August suicide bombing that targeted a mosque inside a police headquarters, killing 15 people.

Published in Dawn, February 1st, 2016