JEDDAH, 30 June 2004 — The government yesterday announced a two-month amnesty during which citizens can surrender unlicensed weapons without penalty.
An Interior Ministry statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency called on Saudi citizens to “make use of this opportunity and hand over unlicensed weapons.” Those who did not comply by the Aug. 29 deadline would be punished, the statement said.
The ministry said the issuing of new weapons licenses for Saudis has been suspended since 2002 following the expiry of a deadline for acquiring them.
The move comes less than a week after Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd announced a one-month amnesty for suspected terrorists.
Under the amnesty, announced by Crown Prince Abdullah, the government would guarantee the repentant extremists’ personal safety and drop all charges against them.
However, suspects would remain liable to being tried under Shariah law, which could mean the families of their victims would decide what happens to them, officials explained.
Two wanted suspects have so far surrendered under the amnesty, including one who featured on a list of 26 most-wanted suspects issued by the Interior Ministry last November. Othman Al-Amri, who was 21st on the list, gave himself up at the home of a prominent preacher in Jeddah on Monday. The list has since been reduced to 11 after a number of terror suspects were either killed or jailed.
Earlier this month security forces gunned down the then leader of Al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia, Abdul Aziz Al-Muqrin, and three of his henchmen hours after they beheaded US hostage Paul Johnson.
Terrorists have been waging a year-long wave of attacks targeting Saudis and expatriates as well as government and private property. At least 85 police and civilians, including many foreigners, have been killed in suicide bombings and shootings over the past months.
The authorities have seized huge caches of weapons including rifles, pistols, hand grenades, mortars, rocket-propelled grenade launchers and tons of explosives. Many of the weapons were believed to have been smuggled across Saudi Arabia’s porous borders.
Interior Minister Prince Naif said earlier this month that foreigners who have been unnerved by the recent wave of violence might be granted licenses to carry weapons.
“In principle, Saudi citizens have the right to carry weapons after obtaining the required permission. Likewise, expatriates if they feel they were in danger, they can get permission to carry weapons. By weapons I mean the personal weapon they can carry in their own countries,” he said.
Diplomats from Western countries who met with Prince Naif and Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal this week asked for greater protection for their communities in the Kingdom.
