Riyadh, July 22: Saudi Arabia said today it had dealt another heavy blow to the al-Qaeda network with the arrest of 16 more militants, vowing not to rest until it has "cleaned up" the kingdom of any remaining terror cells. "Certainly yes," Interior Minister Prince Nayef Bin Abdul Aziz told the London-based Saudi-owned Asharq al-Awsat newspaper when asked if the 16 detained men were members of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda.

"We will not stop until we are absolutely certain that the country has been cleaned up of these people," Prince Nayef vowed, adding that it was premature to call a halt to the crackdown on suspected militants. The interior ministry announced yesterday that security forces had foiled major terror attacks against the kingdom's key installations, including targets in the oil-rich eastern province and arrested 16 people.

Over 20 metric tonnes of chemical substances used for manufacturing explosives, some in bags hidden in underground stores, were seized.

Large numbers of boxes containing ammunition and various types of shells, in addition to 72 kgs of highly explosive RDX, were found. The seizure also included five RPG anti-tank and anti-personnel launchers and 18 rockets, 524 detonators, 981 meters (2,940 feet) of match cord in addition to several automatic rifles and ammunition, the interior ministry said.

Bullet-proof vests, binoculars, communication devices, monitoring cameras, computers, fake passports and identity cards, motorbikes and vehicles ready for use in terrorist attacks were confiscated.

Bureau Report