JEDDAH, 25 July 2004 — A wanted terrorist is reported to have expressed willingness to surrender at the Kingdom’s embassy in Pakistan, despite the expiry of the month-long royal amnesty.
Khaled Al-Asiri, who is not on the Kingdom’s most-wanted list, was expected to surrender some time soon at the Saudi Embassy in Islamabad, Sheikh Safar Al-Hawali who has been mediating in the case, said.
“A mediator called me late Friday afternoon, telling me that Khaled Al-Asiri expressed his willingness to surrender,” Al-Hawali was quoted by AFP as saying.
According to Al-Hawali, who has been acting as a middleman between the government and terror suspects, a number of the so-called mediators are ex-veterans of the Afghan war against the former Soviet Union.
Al-Asiri’s name has been referred to the authorities and all measures taken to arrange for his surrender and repatriation, Al-Hawali said.
Only six terrorists took advantage of the one-month amnesty targeting Al-Qaeda sympathizers. It expired Thursday night.
Meanwhile, the family of Saleh Al-Oufi, also not on the most-wanted list, said they had no knowledge whether Al-Oufi had offered to surrender. Al-Oufi escaped the scene of a fight between security forces and terrorists in Riyadh leaving behind his wife and three children who have since been rescued.
His family condemned Al-Oufi’s actions and those of other terrorists in the country. They expressed surprise that Al-Oufi has until now failed to give himself up in response to the royal amnesty offered by the authorities who threatened a harsh crackdown after the amnesty period.
Twelve suspects on the Kingdom’s 26-strong most-wanted list remain at large. The others have either been killed in clashes with security forces or have surrendered.
