Saudi arrests five al Qaeda sympathizers

RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA: Saudi Arabia said on Wednesday it had arrested five regular users of Islamist chatrooms associated with sympathizers of al Qaeda.

A statement by the Interior Ministry aired on Saudi state television said the five unidentified men were seized for "spreading misleading propaganda on the Internet".

A security source told Reuters the men posted comments on many websites associated with al Qaeda using different pseudonyms.

Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, had battled battling Islamist militants who launched a violent campaign to destabilize the U.S.-allied monarchy in 2003.

The violence has subsided since 2006 after nearly 200 people, including foreign residents, security forces and militants died, but the government has arrested hundreds of suspects over the past year.

The Interior Ministry runs an extensive program of Internet monitoring.