RIYADH, June 30: Saudi police killed a top spiritual guide for the Saudi wing of Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda network during a shootout in Riyadh on Wednesday, security sources said.

They named the slain militant as Abdullah al-Roshood, on a list of 26 most wanted suspects. The Interior Ministry said a policeman was also killed in the gunbattle, the first militant violence since Saudi forces killed the leader of Al Qaeda in the kingdom 12 days ago.

The ministry statement said six more policemen - and three passers-by - were moderately to lightly wounded. The security sources had earlier said a second militant apart from Roshood was killed, but the ministry statement, read out on Saudi television, said only one militant died. - Reuters