JEDDAH, 27 June 2006 — Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah yesterday declared an amnesty to militants at large who have joined deviant groups provided they surrendered themselves to the security forces.

The king, who had made a similar declaration in June 2004, announced this amnesty during the weekly meeting of the Council of Ministers at Al-Salam Palace in Jeddah yesterday afternoon.

The June 2004 royal amnesty, which lasted for one month, resulted in six wanted suspects turning themselves in; one was on the most-wanted list. These men were released five months later.

Speaking to Arab News, Shoura Council member Mohsen Al-Obaikan said that the pardon issued last year had been a success because it “turned a number of men back to the right path.”

“These are people who have benefited from the pardon and are presently living normal lives with their families,” he said.

Badr Al-Mutawa, a Jeddah-based political analyst, said the royal pardon has been a successful tool the Kingdom has used in its fight against terrorism.

Sheikh Ahmed Al-Ghamdi, acting director of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice in the Makkah region, said that it gives these deviant men a chance to seek redemption. “It offers a chance for these people to return to God,” he said.

During yesterday’s ministerial meeting Transport Minister Jabara Al-Seraisry, who was standing in for the culture and information minister yesterday, told the Saudi Press Agency that the king briefed the council about regional and international issues and the deepening miseries of the Palestinian people consequent to the hostile activities of the Israeli forces. He said the king also commended Saudi security forces over their performance in the recent bust at a Riyadh villa.

“King Abdullah commended the successful pre-emptive operations of the security forces against the members of the deviant group in Riyadh on Friday and their arrests at various locations in the Kingdom,” said Al-Seraisry.

The king also stressed the vital role every citizen and resident in the country should play in maintaining the security and peace in the country. He appealed for cooperation in security matters without being lax and not giving protection to any person who might engage in subversive acts.

The weekly Cabinet meeting also took several administrative and policy decisions, including the approval of new regulations for the Saudi Credit Bank, which aims at giving support to people in the low income bracket. The state-owned bank has been granted more freedom to extend interest-free loans to small businesses and individuals pursuing various trades.

It also aims at giving interest-free social loans to people of limited income to overcome their financial difficulties.

Another important decision emerging from yesterday’s Cabinet meeting was to move forward on agreements made between the Ministry of Education and India’s Ministry of Human Resource Development during the Indian minister Arjun Singh’s visit to the Kingdom last month.