ABU DHABI ø Saudi Arabia has killed four leading Al Qaida fugitives.

Saudis security forces killed four Al Qaida agents who appeared on the kingdom's list of 26 leading fugitives. In a 24-hour period last week, Saudi forces killed five Al Qaida agents in Jedda.

"They were preparing for a criminal operation in Jedda," the Saudi Interior Ministry said in a statement.

The four leading Al Qaida fugitives were all Saudis. The Interior Ministry identified them as Ahmed Bin Abdul Rahman Al Fadli, Mustapha Bin Ibrahim Mubaraki, Talal Bin Anbar Ahmed Al Anbari and Khaled Bin Mubarak Al Qurashi.

Al Fadli was No. 7; Al Qurashi, No. 12; Mubaraki, No. 15; and Al Anbari, No. 20 on the top 26 wanted insurgents. The list was published in mid-2003 after the Al Qaida suicide attacks against Western compounds in Riyad.

Saudi security forces said one of the Al Qaida agents was shot by his colleagues when he tried to surrender. Two others escaped in a car on late Thursday, where one of them was later tracked and killed and the other blew himself up.

The Interior Ministry said police captured weapons, explosives and two cars that Al Qaida employed in two previous attacks. In those attacks, two Saudi security officers were killed.