Saudi arrests suspect in Riyadh bomb

Saudi Arabia said yesterday it had arrested a suspect in last month's suicide bombing that killed 18 people in a housing compound in Riyadh and seized a large cache of weapons, including a surface-to-air missile.

An Interior Ministry statement said the man, who was not identified for security reasons, was arrested last Wednesday after security forces raided his hideout and found 38.4 kilogrammes of RDX explosive.

The announcement came a day after the United States and Britain issued warnings of further possible attacks on Western housing compounds in the kingdom, the world's largest oil exporter and a regional US ally.

The Riyadh government is battling Muslim militants believed to be linked to Saudi-born Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network.

"Security forces located the hideout of one element of the terrorist cell that carried out the bombing at the Muhaya compound," said the statement read out on state television.

"The search continues for other elements of this cell and others like it."

Security forces who searched the hideout found what the ministry listed as a surface-to-air missile, 20 hand grenades, four rocket-propelled grenades and launchers, automatic rifles, 17,000 rounds of ammunition and pamphlets inciting violence.