The Saudi authorities are cracking down on Islamic militants

The nine Yemenis were handed over "according to co-operation and co-ordination between security services of the two brotherly countries," a Saudi interior ministry statement quoted by SPA said.

A Yemeni newspaper report says the group includes people suspected of involvement in a bomb attack on a French oil tanker off the Yemeni coast last October.

It is the latest such handover between the neighbouring countries under their extradition agreement.

Last week, Yemen handed over Bandar Bin Abdurrahman al-Ghamdi, a chief suspect in the May suicide bombings on Western targets in the Saudi capital Riyadh that left 35 people dead.

Shootout

Meanwhile, the governor of the southern Saudi province of Jizan, Prince Muhammad Ibn Nasser, has said no leniency will be shown from the authorities in the country's clampdown on terrorists.

The Riyadh bombings killed 35 people in May

He was speaking a day after three suspected al-Qaeda militants and a policeman were killed in a shootout at a housing compound in Jizan.

Saudi officials said police had tried to arrest five armed militants, who had barricaded themselves in a hospital apartment and had apparently taken hostages.

Saudi officials said two of the gunmen surrendered.

One of the two men held is a leading al-Qaeda suspect, Saudi sources told the BBC.

They named him as Sultan Jubran al-Qahtani, a 29-year-old Saudi who is on the "most wanted" list of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation.

He is also one of 19 men who have been sought by the Saudi authorities in connection with the Riyadh bomb attacks.

9/11 claim

Since the Riyadh bombings, and facing criticism from its long-standing ally the US, Saudi Arabia has been engaged in a campaign against Islamic militants.

It is estimated that more than 200 people have been arrested and a number of others killed in police raids against suspected militants.

The Saudi ambassador to the United States has said his country tried to act against terrorist suspects before the September 11 attacks, but met resistance from US State Department officials.

Prince Bandar bin Sultan said the officials had labelled the suspects "dissidents" and criticised the Saudi authorities from treating them badly.

Fifteen of the 19 hijackers involved in the attacks on New York and Washington were Saudi nationals.