Saudi Arabia urges al-Qaeda terrorists to surrender

The Saudi government has made a new appeal to al-Qaeda militants to surrender to the authorities.

According to the Arab newspaper Al-Sharq al-Awsat King Abdullah announced during a cabinet meeting on Monday that he wants to give members of al-Qaeda, which they describe as 'deviant', another chance to give themselves up.

"On the occasion of the next Saudi national day which falls on September 23 the wanted can surrender, taking advantage of this opportunity," Abdullah said. However, neither the King nor an official statement put out by the state-run Saudi Press Agency specify if this appeal is the prelude to a new amnesty for terrorists who give themselves up, as happened last year.

In June this year the Saudi interior ministry issued a third list of the kingdom's most wanted terror suspects. So far at least eleven on the latest list have been killed or taken into custody. Only one suspect is thought to still be at large from the previous list, the AKI reports.