REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, RIYADH -- A firefight in a mainly Shiite area of eastern Saudi Arabia killed four people, including two policemen, on Thursday, the interior ministry said.

The police came under fire when they attempted to arrest two wanted

activists in the flashpoint Awamiya district of the oil-rich Eastern Province, a ministry statement carried by the official SPA news agency said.

The activists, named as Hussein Ali al-Faraj and Ali Ahmed al-Faraj, were both also killed.

Two other police were wounded and required hospital treatment.

The clash came a day after a Saudi court jailed seven protesters for up to 20 years for joining a demonstration and chanting anti-government slogans in the Eastern Province.