The Interior Ministry said in a statement late Saturday that Sgt. Badr Hamdi al-Rashidi was a member of Saudi Arabia's Special Emergency Force in the kingdom's central Qassim region.

The official Saudi Press Agency carried the statement, which said six of his relatives took advantage of family links to draw him to a remote area and kill him.

The Interior Ministry released the suspects' photos, names and ages, which range from 18 to 32.

The ministry statement did not say what the motive might have been.