5,600 Web sites spreading al-Qaida ideology...

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There are now about 5,600 Web sites spreading al-Qaida ideology worldwide, and 900 more are appearing each year, a Saudi researcher told a national security conference on Tuesday.

Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, has identified the Internet as a key battlefield with militants who launched a campaign to topple the U.S.-allied ruling royal family in 2003.

"Research shows there are more than 5,600 sites on the Internet promoting the ideology of al-Qaida," Khaled al-Faram told the Information Technology and National Security conference in the Saudi capital of Riyadh.

"There are some 900 news sites appearing every year, and despite the retreat of some media outlets specifically run by al-Qaida, extremist Web sites are constantly on the rise."

He said it was difficult to track most of the sites, though hard-core al-Qaida sites often change addresses to avoid detection or start up again elsewhere once infiltrated.