JEDDAH, 4 September 2005 — Over 4,000 prisoners who were held for committing various petty crimes, have been released from jails following an amnesty announced by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, the director of prisons said yesterday.

“The number of prisoners who have been released from various jails is 4,134,” Maj. Gen. Ali ibn Hussein Al-Harithy said, according to the Saudi Press Agency.

The prisons chief did not give a breakdown of the nationalities of the freed prisoners. According to a previous statement by Al-Harithy, they included 1,200 Yemenis who were jailed on various charges.

Al-Harithy said the amnesty was still in force, meaning that more prisoners could be released by King Abdullah, who became the Kingdom’s ruler on Aug. 1.

“The amnesty has opened a new horizon for the released prisoners who will lead a new life inspired by the humanitarian gesture of the Saudi leadership,” he said.

King Abdullah opened his reign with a series of decisions that won the appreciation of both Saudis and expatriates. He announced a 15 percent salary increase for public servants beginning on Ramadan 1 (Oct. 4); he also pardoned five Libyans implicated in a plot to assassinate him two years ago.

Yemen’s Saba news agency reported on Aug. 19 that Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh had telephoned King Abdullah to thank him for his decision to release 1,200 Yemenis who were in the Kingdom’s jails.

The royal gesture “reflects the depth and solidarity of the brotherly relations” between the two neighboring countries, the Saba news agency quoted President Saleh as saying.

In a previous statement, Al-Harithy said the royal amnesty declared by King Abdullah covered a large number of prisoners including Saudis, Yemenis and other expatriates.

The release of Abdullah Al-Hamid, Matrouk Al-Faleh and Ali Al-Damini, who were sentenced on May 15 to jail terms ranging from six to nine years for sowing dissent and disobeying the ruler, was welcomed by Saudis as a courageous decision by the new king.

“This is a reflection of the humane spirit of King Abdullah. I am not surprised that he released the Saudis as well as the Libyans who plotted to murder him,” said Saud Abdul Ghani Sabbagh, a Saudi businessman from Makkah.

Every year, Saudi Arabia releases a large number of prisoners in Ramadan as well as during the Eid Al-Fitr and Eid Al-Adha celebrations.

In 2001, King Fahd pardoned 13,768 Saudi and non-Saudi prisoners to mark the 20th anniversary of his accession to the throne.