RIYADH, Jan 9: Four wanted militants were killed on Sunday in a shootout with security forces in a desert area in Saudi Arabia, where the government is battling a wave of attacks by Al Qaeda linked militants , the interior ministry said.

The gunfight resulted in "the death of four... members of the deviant group," a term used to describe Al Qaeda sympathizers, a ministry spokesman said in a statement carried by SPA news agency.

"Three members of the security forces were slightly wounded," he added. A security source earlier told AFP that four armed men "wanted for security-related matters" had been killed in the shootout with police.

The spokesman said security forces ordered the suspects, who were in a tent in the desert north of Az-Zilfi, to give themselves up. "Security forces surrounded the site on early Sunday morning and called on them to surrender," the spokesman said. The suspects "opened fire ... and attempted to flee in a car while lobbing grenades at police," he added. -AFP