According to security sources, 25-year-old Ali bin Muhammad Al-Qahtani, who is awaiting death sentence after being convicted of murder, was caught with an accomplice on a mountain peak after he was spotted by a helicopter.
They said the manhunt continued for more than 16 hours and finally Al-Qahtani was apprehended in Wadi Qarn in the northwestern Taif.
The sources said the escapee fired at security forces with a machine gun but no one was killed or injured.
Spokesman for Taif police First Lt. Salem Al-Ribaie said the prisoner would be handed over to prison authorities in Asir region.
The sources said after firing at the security forces, Al-Qahtani escaped to an area with many rest houses using a car he had robbed from an Egyptian expatriate at gunpoint.
The Interior Ministry had announced a SR2 million reward to anyone who could provide information that might lead to his capture.
Spokesman of the Directorate General of Prisons Col. Ayoub bin Bakheet said a committee comprising a number of specialists was formed to investigate how Al-Qahtani escaped from the maximum-security prison and if he was aided by any of the guards.
Al-Qahtani cut through the steel bars of the window of his cell using a sharp tool.
