It said the release would include prisoners who have a month or two to serve if they are not wanted for private rights.

The newspaper said the directives were contained in a letter the crown prince addressed to the governors of all regions as well as to the chairman of the Prosecution and Investigations Commission.

The directives said male and female expatriates should be pardoned and deported home immediately, except those of them imprisoned in cases directly affecting the security of the country, those not covered by the royal pardon and the foreign prisoners jailed for Hudud crimes.

According to the conditions of the pardon, the remaining jail terms to be served by foreigners who will benefit from the release should be nine months or less. The conditions also stipulated that foreigners imprisoned for private rights should complete their jail terms unless they are pardoned by the claimer of the private right and that the fine for which they were put in jail should not be more than SR50,000.

The terms of the pardon made it clear that there would not be any release for persons imprisoned for not paying custom fines or for violating the rules and regulations of banks.

Under the directives, all pardoned foreigners should be fingerprinted to make sure they would not return to the Kingdom after deportation.

The directives were made after it was noticed that prisons were overcrowded by prisoners, the procedures of some of whom were delayed. They will remain valid for a month after their circulation to all regions. The letter also noted that the number of foreign prisoners was increasing remarkably.