JEDDAH, 18 August 2003 — Saudi Arabia has proof that seven Westerners released earlier this month were in fact guilty of a wave of bombings in the Kingdom but were pardoned in an effort to smooth relations with Britain, a Saudi official said yesterday. The statement contradicts reports in the British media about the newly freed prisoners.
Adel Al-Jubeir, foreign affairs adviser to Crown Prince Abdullah, said Saudi Arabia reaffirmed that the men — five Britons, a Canadian and a Belgian — had indeed carried out the bombings, which resulted in the death of one person and the wounding of several others.
“What happened is there was a series of explosions that were perpetrated by rival gangs who were involved in smuggling alcohol. We have the evidence, we have the proof and we stand by it,” Al-Jubeir told BBC radio.
“Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd has the right to pardon people and he exercised that right. He felt it was in the best interest of the nation and in the best interest of our relations with Great Britain,” he said.
Families of the men said their confessions, which they later retracted, were obtained under torture. Al-Jubeir said the allegations were baseless. “Let them be examined by medical doctors and we will see,” he said.
Nobody at the British Embassy in Riyadh was available for comment yesterday.
The men were tried and convicted of carrying out several bombings in Saudi Arabia in 2000 and early 2001, including a Nov. 17, 2000 attack that killed Briton Christopher Rodway.
Several other Western expatriates working in the Kingdom were wounded in separate attacks.
On the release of the men the Saudi Embassy in London issued a statement saying the seven had been pardoned by King Fahd following appeals from their families, in line with Islamic law.
“King Fahd has ordered that the sentence served by these prisoners be reduced, that the time already spent in prison is to be deemed sufficient punishment, and that they are to be set free,” the statement said.
William Sampson, who was born British but emigrated to Canada, and Alexander “Sandy” Mitchell from Glasgow were convicted of planting a car bomb that killed Rodway. The other Britons — James Cottle, Peter Brandon, Les Walker and James Patrick Lee — were serving 12-year jail sentences.
The Belgian, Raf Schyvens, had also confessed on television alongside Sampson and Mitchell.
Last month a British high court refused to grant permission to British businessman Ronald Jones to sue the Saudi government for damages relating to allegations he was tortured by Saudi officials to force him to confess to a terrorist bombing in Riyadh.
The high court ruled that Saudi Arabia had “state immunity” against the $4.5-million lawsuit.
