SAUDI ARRESTS 4,000, SEIZES ARMS NEAR YEMEN BORDER

RIYADH, Dec 27 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia has arrested more than 4,000 people
and seized large quantities of weapons and drugs in the south of the
country, along the border with Yemen, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA)
said on Saturday.

The agency did not say over what time the arrests and the seizures were
made in the Najran province. Both Yemen and Saudi Arabia are combating
Islamic militants believed to be linked to Saudi-born Osama bin Laden's al
Qaeda.

The agency said border police had netted dynamite and ammunition as well as
hashish and wine with the 4,047 infiltrators. Saudi authorities have in the
past reported on arrests and arms hauls in Najran.

Saudi Arabia has recently stepped up security along its border with Yemen,
a traditional route for drug and arms smuggling. Yemeni and Saudi militants
have also crossed the border.

At least 50 people have been killed in suicide car bombings in Saudi Arabia
since May. Yemen is bin Laden's ancestral homeland and has also suffered
attacks by al Qaeda sympathisers against national and foreign targets.