JEDDAH: A Saudi who figured on a list of 85 most-wanted militants has surrendered to the authorities, the Interior Ministry announced on Wednesday.
The announcement comes less than a week after another wanted militant blew himself up in the Jeddah office of Assistant Interior Minister for Security Affairs Prince Muhammad bin Naif. Pretending to surrender, the militant blew himself up in an attempt to assassinate the prince, who is the Kingdom’s anti-terror chief. Prince Muhammad was only slightly injured in the attack.
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the Saudi arm of Al-Qaeda, later claimed responsibility for the assassination attempt.
According to the Interior Ministry statement on Wednesday, the family of wanted Saudi militant Fawwaz Al-Otaibi assisted him in surrendering. The statement said that Al-Otaibi, 36, had telephoned his parents and said he wanted to return to the Kingdom and turn himself in.
Al-Otaibi was reunited with his family and was allowed to perform Umrah on Tuesday night. “The majority of these suspects have been misled. It is our responsibility to guide them to the right path,” said Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki responding to calls for a more aggressive approach in dealing with terror suspects.
The statement did not say how long Al-Otaibi had been in custody.
A security analyst who did not want to be named, said, “The Interior Ministry has been very keen on sending the message that the Kingdom’s policy of rewarding those who repent will not change in reaction to the recent attack on Prince Muhammad.”
The analyst said he has good reasons to believe that Al-Otaibi had surrendered prior to the attack on Prince Muhammad. “The government’s way of dealing with terrorists wishing to surrender has been one of the major elements that has contributed to success in the Kingdom’s war on terror. Such tactics will eventually encourage more families to persuade militants to surrender and thus neutralize the terror group’s ability to recruit youngsters in the Kingdom,” he said.
Details about Al-Otaibi released by the ministry in February said he had left the Kingdom for the United Arab Emirates a year ago and that he was last known to be in Iran.
Saudi Arabia issued the wanted list in February with the names of 83 Saudis and two Yemenis, all believed to be abroad. Prince Muhammad’s attacker, Abdullah Hassan Tali Al-Asiri, was hiding in Yemen before surfacing last week. He blew himself up as Prince Muhammad was on the phone trying to persuade another Saudi militant in Yemen to return and surrender.
Prince Muhammad has been largely credited for the Kingdom’s aggressive anti-terror campaign that began in earnest in 2003 when Al-Qaeda first struck in the Kingdom by targeting residential compounds.
Second Deputy Premier and Interior Minister Prince Naif has also emphasized that the Kingdom’s policy of enticing “repentant” extremists will not change in reaction to the assassination attempt on his son, Prince Muhammad.
Addressing a gathering at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry early Sunday morning, Prince Naif said, “The incident will not change this policy by which we open the door for those who repent.”
