Riyadh, June 03: A hand-written letter believed to have been sent by Al-Qaeda mastermind Osama Bin Laden was found on a terror suspect killed by Saudi security forces late Saturday.
The blood-stained letter, found on the body of Yussef Saleh Fahd Al-Ayeeri, killed in a shootout with police in the northern province of Hail, was signed by Bin Laden himself and dated six months ago, Al-Watan newspaper said.
It was addressed to a person whose name was covered in blood and could not be identified, the report added. Bin Laden sent the recipient his congratulations on Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim feast that follows the fasting month of Ramadan which fell last November, and noted the "achievements of the cells", run by the unidentified person.
Two Saudi security men were also killed and at least two others wounded in the shootout with Ayeeri and a second gunman who was later arrested.
BR> Ayeeri was one of 19 men Saudi authorities have been hunting since they uncovered a secret cell belonging to the Al-Qaeda terror network.

Riyadh announced on May 7 it had uncovered the cell that planned to carry out major attacks in the kingdom and that security forces were hunting 17 Saudis, one Kuwaiti-Canadian of Iraqi origin and a Yemeni.
BR> The announcement came five days before triple suicide bombings in Riyadh that killed 35 people, including nine attackers.

According to Al-watan, ayeeri had a belt with explosives wrapped around his dead body.

Bureau report