RIYADH, 6 February — Saudi Arabia will apply Shariah law to the three Westerners shown on television confessing to two bombings in Riyadh, regardless of any outside pressures in the case, Interior Minister Prince Naif was quoted as saying.
"Do we have anything other than Shariah? We don't have a judicial system other than Shariah," Prince Naif told Al-Riyadh Arabic newspaper when asked which law would be applied on the alleged bombers. The prince did not say when the three would be tried but said the process would start when probes were over.
Saudi Television on Sunday showed a Briton, a Canadian and a Belgian confessing to two car bombings that took place in November last year in the capital and killed one Briton — Christopher Rodway — and injured several others.
Shariah law, based on the teachings of the Qur'an and Sunnah, prescribes execution of convicted murderers unless the families of the victims accept "dia", or blood money. The father of Rodway, who was killed in the Nov. 17 bombing, yesterday urged Saudi authorities to execute the bombers.
Prince Naif said talk of sentence was premature as investigations were not completed and there were still "private and public rights" to be considered. He said the explosives used in the Riyadh attacks had entered the country illegally and were prepared "in a highly skillful way which indicated specialized people were behind it".
He added: "The source of the explosives and much of the facts are known to us but the interest of the investigations dictate that we do not make this public now. All facts will be disclosed at the appropriate time." Asked if Riyadh could come under pressure in the case, Prince Naif said: "We will never accept anything like this."
The three men confessed to two Riyadh bombings were identified as Alexander Mitchell from Britain, William Sampson from Canada, and Ralph Skevins from Belgium.
Britain said its diplomats were seeking an urgent meeting with Saudi officials. The Belgian Foreign Ministry said its ambassador to Saudi Arabia was due to meet Prince Naif today and Canada said its embassy had submitted a request for consular access.
Mitchell and Sampson said they jointly carried out the first blast on Nov. 17. Mitchell also said he was involved, with Sampson and the Belgian in the second bombing on Nov. 22, which injured three Britons and an Irish woman. The men said they received orders to carry out the bombings, but did not say who gave the orders or why.
"The embassy in Riyadh contacted the Saudi authorities immediately after the broadcast last night," a British Foreign Office spokeswoman said in London. She said Britain was seeking clarification on the case and the Saudi officials agreed to hold a meeting soon.
A Belgian Foreign Ministry spokesman said the government had had no warning of the televised confession and the Saudi probe was "a quite secret investigation". "We are seeking confirmation," the spokesman said.
