RIYADH, 6 December — The head of Saudi prisons has said that international rights groups were welcome to visit the Kingdom despite their regular criticism of alleged human rights violations here in the country.

Lt. Gen. Ali Hussein Al-Harithi, director general of prisons, also announced that the government was planning to abolish jail terms for a number of offences as part of a major reshuffle of the prison service.

Al-Harithi said a planned visit by Amnesty International has been postponed at the request of the London-based group following the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.

"We welcome a visit by this (Amnesty) delegation or others any time. We have nothing to hide or fear," Harithi said.

"It will find that the reality of our prisons and inmates does not conform with what is rumored or said about them," he said.

An Amnesty spokesman said the group would renew its request for a visit. "Since they are welcoming us, then we will renew our application to visit," the spokesman was quoted as saying by Reuters news agency.

In his interview, Al-Harithi said authorities would act to ease overcrowding in prisons by approving legal reforms that would cut or abolish prison terms for petty crimes.

"The next few months will see a qualitative transformation in the concept of punishing criminals in Saudi Arabia by abolishing prison terms and employing other means in certain cases," he said.

Al- Harithi said the proposed reforms included allowing prisoners to continue working while their salaries to be paid to their families.

However, the proposed reforms will not apply to "those who committed crimes of honor, repeat offenders or those who committed major crimes".

Under the proposed reforms, penalties would be eased or eliminated on non-violent crimes such as petty theft and meeting between a man and a woman in circumstances which are not undesirable, he added. Under the Islamic law, women are not allowed to be alone in the presence of strange males.

"Alternatives to detention such as obligatory social work or fines are better than congesting the prisons," Harithi said.

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd has pardoned thousands of prisoners with light offences since the start of the fasting month of Ramadan on Nov.16, and the figure is expected to go up to 7,500 by the end of the month.

To benefit from pardons, prisoners must not be repeat offenders and must not have committed major offenses such as drug trafficking.

The total number of prisoners in Saudi jails is put at around 30,000.