Three Saudi militants killed in blast abroad

Riyadh: The Saudi Interior Ministry says an investigation has shown that three Saudi militants were killed in a September 14 blast outside the country.

The official Saudi Press agency quoted a ministry statement as saying Monday that DNA tests showed the three were militants who had fled the country to join militants abroad.

It did not say in which country the blast took place.

It named the three as Mohammad Abdul Rahman Al Rashed, 28, Sultan Radi Al Otaibi, 26, and Fahd Jutaili, 28, who was released from Guantanamo prison in 2007.

Jutaili was reported to have been killed by security forces last year in Yemen, where Saudi militants have been finding sanctuary.

Both Al Rashed and Al Otaibi were on Saudi Arabia's most wanted list.

A spokesman hinted that the blast occurred in Yemen, which is fighting both a resurgent Al Qaida branch and a rebellion by Yemeni Shiiite rebels.

Riyadh has been fighting the Al Houthi rebels since they launched a cross-border raid into Saudi territory in November.

The Saudi militants killed were on a list published last February of 85 wanted militants believed by Saudi authorities to be outside the desert kingdom, state television reported.

"The explosion occurred at a meeting which was attended by some Saudi nationals ... DNA samples ... revealed the identities of three Saudis who were on the list of the wanted 85," the interior ministry said in a statement read on television.