Saudi security sources said four policemen and a Muslim militant were killed in fighting in Riyadh on Tuesday, the second major clash between police and fundamentalists in the capital in three days.

An Interior Ministry statement, apparently referring to the initial stages of the fighting in a known fundamentalist area in southern Riyadh, said three policemen were killed and a suspect was wounded.

It said the fighting started when police tried to check a truck parked in a street in the area. Two other policemen were wounded and an unidentified number of suspects were arrested, the statement said.

Saudi Arabia has launched a series of raids in recent months on militants suspected of links to Saudi-born Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network since suicide bombings killed 35 people -- including nine Americans -- in Riyadh in May.

"Some suspects are still holed up in one house," one security source told Reuters, as the shooting eased off on Tuesday, more than five hours after the fighting erupted.

The ministry statement made no mention of the continuing siege.

Other sources said four policemen and a militant were killed and more than 15 people wounded in the fighting.

This was the fourth clash reported between police and militants in the kingdom in less than a month.

Saudi security sources said on Monday police had arrested about 10 suspected Islamic militants after a shootout in Riyadh on Sunday.

In London, the British Foreign Office said on Tuesday it believed the militants in Sunday's battle may have been targeting British interests, and had escaped despite the Saudi authorities saying they had arrested 10 men.

A senior Saudi official in Washington said those arrested made up "another major cell that were targeting a British target."

AT LEAST FIVE HOUSES TARGETED

A resident reached by phone in the southern neighborhood of the Saudi capital said security forces backed by helicopters targeted at least five houses on Tuesday.

"The operation is very big. The whole area is surrounded by security police. It is a big area," the resident said.

Residents saw police drag out and arrest suspected militants.

"I saw one man break free from police and run away after kicking off his shoes. Police were chasing him," a resident said.

Facing U.S. accusations of laxity in tackling al Qaeda, Saudi Arabia has cracked down harder on Islamic militants after the May bombings which targeted compounds housing foreigners. Washington and Riyadh blame the bombings on al Qaeda.

Police have arrested more than 200 suspects since then.

Six militants were killed on July 28 in a police raid on a farm in northeastern Saudi Arabia -- the biggest militant death toll in clashes since the May bombings.

On July 21, authorities said they had arrested 16 militants planning attacks on Saudi installations.

Last month, Interior Minister Prince Nayef said the kingdom would eliminate Muslim militants spreading terror just as one would remove a "sick body organ."

Western sources in Saudi Arabia say the authorities are providing unprecedented security cooperation in tackling Saudi-based al Qaeda elements and those who helped finance the group, blamed for the September 11, 2001, attacks on U.S. cities.

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