RIYADH, Sept 24 (AFP) - Saudi security forces have arrested a second suspect in twin bombings which struck the commercial capital of Jeddah on the third anniversary of the September 11 attacks in the United States, the interior ministry said Friday.
Salah al-Najjar was arrested in the northwestern city of Tabuk late Thursday, after he escaped a raid on Monday which resulted in the arrest of fellow suspect Rida al-Najjar, ministry spokesman Mansur al-Turki told AFP.
That raid had prompted a shootout in which both Rida and three security officers were wounded.
"Security forces continued searching for Salah al-Najjar and he was spotted in a residential apartment in the city of Tabuk. He surrendered without putting up any resistance," the spokesman said.
"Investigations that followed the two blasts in Jeddah suggested Rida's involvement," Turki said, adding that Salah's name had only emerged as a result of Monday's raid.
It was not immediately clear if the two men were related.
The twin bombings outside two Jeddah banks associated with Britain and the United States, caused limited damage but were "undoubtedly terrorist attacks," said Turki.
More than 90 people have been killed and hundreds wounded in a wave of violence in the kingdom blamed on Islamic militants over the past 16 months.
Since a spate of deadly bombings against expatriate housing compounds last year, the Saudi authorities have launched repeated raids against suspected militant hideouts, some of which have resulted in bloody gunbattles.