Saudi police kill Qaeda suspect in shootout

Saudi security forces shot dead a suspected al-Qaeda militant and arrested another after one of them opened fire at agents at a checkpoint on Friday, the interior ministry said.

One of the two men, who was disguised as a woman, opened fire after their car was stopped at the checkpoint in the central town of Wadi al-Dawasir, said Mansour al-Turki, the ministry's security spokesman.

"We have a strong suspicion it is al-Qaeda, but we are still trying to identify the dead man and questioning the detained suspect," the spokesman said.

Saudi security forces have stepped up their campaign against al-Qaeda after the Islamic militant group's Yemeni and Saudi wings merged in 2009 into a regional organization, which claimed responsibility for the failed bombing of a U.S.-bound passenger plane last Christmas.

In November, Saudi Arabia said it had captured 149 al-Qaeda militants over several months, who were raising money and recruiting members to carry out attacks in the kingdom, the world's top oil exporter.

A wide counter-terrorism drive halted a violent al-Qaeda campaign in the Gulf Arab country which lasted from 2003 to 2006.