Saudi Arabia says mosque attack planner killed in shootout

Saudi Arabia says the man who planned a suicide bombing in July outside of the mosque where the Prophet Muhammad is buried is one of the two extremists killed in a shootout with police in Riyadh.

Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mansour al-Turki said Taie bin Salem bin Yaslam al-Sayaari  was killed on Saturday by police in the capital's northern Yasmeen neighborhood.

The July 4 bombing outside of the Medina mosque killed four Saudi security force members and wounded five. Millions of Muslims from around the world visit the mosque every year as part of their pilgrimage to Mecca.

The same day, separate suicide bomb attacks targeted a Shiite mosque in eastern Saudi Arabia and the US Consulate in Jiddah. The state-run Saudi Press Agency reported al-Turki's comments early on Sunday.