Saudi restricts chemical use after militant plot

RIYADH, Apr 30 (Reuters) Saudi Arabia today curbed the sale of industrial and agricultural chemicals that can be used to make explosives used by al Qaeda-linked militants fighting to bring down the US-allied monarchy.

The government decision comes days after the government said it had arrested 172 militants, including some trainee pilots, planning attacks on oil facilities, military bases and government officials in the world's biggest oil exporter.

The Saudi cabinet said after a meeting chaired by King Abdullah the sale of various nitrate compounds in their solid form was banned for three years, and farmers may only use liquid chemicals as fertilisers.

The decision allowed the import of the chemicals in their solid form for medical, industrial and scientific purposes only.

''The Ministry of Agriculture will nominate four Saudi companies to be the sole importers of these materials, and they will sell them to licensed farmers,'' said a cabinet statement carried by the official news agency SPA.

On Friday the Interior Ministry said police had seized weapons including rocket-propelled grenades and automatic rifles, as well as computers and more than 20 million riyals (5 million dollars) in cash from the armed cells.

Islamist militants linked to al Qaeda launched a violent campaign to topple the US-allied Saudi monarchy in 2003, carrying out suicide bomb attacks on foreigners and government installations, including the oil industry.

Officials say about 144 foreigners and Saudis, including security forces, and 120 militants have died in attacks and clashes with police since May 2003, when al Qaeda suicide bombers hit three Western housing compounds in Riyadh.

The cabinet decision included a call on Saudi research institutions to find locally-manufactured alternatives to chemical compounds imported from abroad for use in agriculture.

REUTERS JS RAI2246