42 Suspected Militants in Custody, Saudi Arabia Says

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — The government announced Saturday that 42 suspected Islamic militants had been arrested in raids across the kingdom, a day after police killed six men in a shootout in Riyadh.

An Interior Ministry statement said 15 of the suspects were arrested after the clash Friday in which one police officer was killed and 17 were wounded.

State television said that four men wanted by security forces, including an Iraqi, were arrested in a raid Saturday at a desert hide-out in the northeastern town of Hafar al Batin. The raid led to the arrest of nine other Saudis “involved in terrorism” who were part of the same group.

A security official said the men arrested and the six killed Friday were part of a wider cell numbering about 50 people that had been broken up.

Also Saturday, 14 Saudis were freed from the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and sent home, the Pentagon said.

One was released because U.S. officials determined the detainee was no longer an enemy combatant. The other Saudis were released after an administrative review process determined they could be transferred.