RIYADH - The Saudi Arabian man arrested on suspicion of shooting dead two policemen and injuring two others in separate attacks in Riyadh was acting on instructions from the Islamic State group in Syria, the Interior Ministry said on Friday.
Mohammed Abdulrahman Abu Niyan, 23, has confessed to carrying out the shootings in March and April on behalf of Islamic State, after meeting a representative of the group in the Saudi capital, the ministry said in a statement carried by state media.
Islamic State last year called on followers in the kingdom to carry out attacks against the authorities, Western expatriates and members of the minority there instead of travelling to Syria or Iraq to join the group.
Abu Niyan recorded footage of the shooting on a mobile phone, the ministry said in its statement, and was preparing car bombs for use in future attacks. He received cash and instructions from Islamic State, the statement said.
The ministry said it had offered a bounty of 1 million riyals ($266,666) for the capture of Nawaf bin Sharif Samir al-Onaizi, who it said had been Abu Niyan’s accomplice and who had adopted a Moroccan accent and name to disguise his identity.
Abu Niyan was detained a week ago attempting to cross into Yemen, where an Islamic State group on Thursday released a video in which it demonstrated military training techniques.