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Saudi police shoot IS suspect dead in Riyadh

Shooting follows reported foiled assassination attempt on Saudi's King Salman during a tour of Malaysia
Members of the Saudi special police unit take part in a military parade in Mecca (AFP)

Police in Saudi Arabia said on Wednesday they shot dead a member of the Islamic State group in the capital, the latest suspected militant to be killed by security forces. 

Officers were called at 6pm on Tuesday to an apartment in Riyadh's Al-Rayan district where the suspect was "flaunting his support" for the militant group, the interior ministry said in a statement.

"He started to resist and waved a gun which he was carrying," forcing police to eliminate "the threat he posed," the ministry added.

Another suspect was arrested.

IS has claimed a series of deadly shootings and bombings since late 2014 in Sunni-dominated Saudi Arabia.

On Tuesday, Malaysian authorities claimed to have foiled a plot to assassinate Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdul Aziz last month during his tour of Asia.

Malaysia's police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said that the seven men, including four Yemeni nationals, were arrested in February.

According to Abu Bakar, the seven men, who are suspected of having links with the IS, had plotted to attack the Saudi royal in Kuala Lumpur.

“They were planning to attack Arab royalties during their visit to Kuala Lumpur. We got them in the nick of time,” Abu Bakar told reporters.

King Salman started his Asia tour in Malaysia on 26 February before arriving in Indonesia, where he is currently enjoying an extended stay in Bali. He will later visit China, Japan and the Maldives.

Police said in an earlier statement that two of the detained men, a Malaysian and an Indonesian, were plotting a large-scale bomb attack before travelling to join IS in Syria.

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