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The headline on the homepage (which you all probably won't see when reading this) reads "Saudis Offer Terrorists Amnesty". Nowhere in this article is anything close to amnesty described, nor is that word used in the actual article. I saw the headline and immediately felt anger rising, but the article merely says this:
Quote:
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (CNN) -- Saudi Arabia promised Wednesday that terrorists in the kingdom will be safe if they surrender within a month -- but after that they will face forceful consequences.
"We are announcing for the last time that we are opening the door to repentance and for those to return to righteousness," said Crown Prince Abdullah in a televised address.
The move comes days after U.S. engineer Paul Johnson Jr., who was working in the kingdom, was kidnapped and beheaded -- and after months of battles between Saudi forces and al Qaeda terrorists.
"To everyone who has gone out of the righteous way and has committed a crime in the name of religion and to everyone who belongs to that group that has done itself a disservice, everyone who has been captured in terror acts is given the chance to come back to God if they want to save their lives, their souls," Abdullah said.
"If they give themselves up without force within one month maximum from the date of this speech, we can promise them that they are going to be safe."
Abdullah said all such people would be dealt with fairly, in accordance with Islamic law.
"If they are wise and they accept it, then they are saved. And if they snub it, then God is not going to forbid us from hitting them with our force, which we get from our dependence on God."
He added that Saudi forces would not hesitate to act.
Johnson Jr., who worked for Lockheed Martin Corp, was kidnapped on June 12. After a 72-hour deadline passed without the demanded release of all al Qaeda prisoners and the departure of all Westerners from the kingdom, photographs of Johnson's head and body were posted on an Islamist Web site.
Hours later, al Qaeda cell leader Abdel Aziz al-Muqrin and three other terrorists were killed in a gun battle with Saudi police, and 12 other suspected members of the cell were captured.
This month's terrorist attacks in Saudi Arabia are the latest in a string of al Qaeda gunbattles and bombings that has lasted for more than a year.
Al Qaeda attacks during the weekend of May 29 in the Saudi oil city of Khobar left at least 22 people dead -- 19 of them from other countries.
A car bombing last November believed to be the work of al Qaeda struck a mostly Arab neighborhood near Riyadh's diplomatic quarter, killing at least 17 people and wounding 122 others.
In May of 2003, triple al Qaeda car bombings in Riyadh killed 23 people, plus the 12 bombers, at three complexes housing Westerners.
Check the homepage for the headline while it's still there.
In summary, the Saudis are merely promising not to kill terrorists if they give up within a month and to prosecute them under Islamic (and I assume Saudi) law. It doesn't say a word about offering them amnesty (as defined as a general political pardon).
-Jon (is glad the Saudis aren't offering amnesty and actually made a public implication that there will be a major offensive against terrorism following this one month deadline)
Fox has a bit more info and a few more quotations:
Quote:
JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia — Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah (search) on Wednesday reached out to Islamic militants operating in the desert kingdom, offering them limited amnesty if they turned themselves in within the next month.
Abdullah said on national television that those who cooperated would not face the death penalty and would be prosecuted only if they had hurt others.
"We are opening the door of amnesty ... to everyone who deviated from the path of right and committed a crime in the name of religion, which is in fact a corruption on earth," he said, reading a statement on behalf of his half-brother, King Fahd (search).
The offer was open to anyone who had not yet been "arrested for carrying out terrorist acts," Abdullah added, but "we swear by God that nothing will prevent us from striking with our full might" those who do not surrender themselves.
Saudi Arabia has seen a string of fatal attacks blamed on Al Qaeda (search) and sympathizers of the anti-Western terror network. Some of the attacks targeting foreigners have been unusually brazen and gruesome.
The most recent of the attacks was the June 12 kidnapping of American engineer Paul M. Johnson, Jr. (search), whose beheading was announced six days later on the Internet.
The death penalty, usually performed as a public beheading with a sword, is common in Saudi Arabia.
Abdullah has been the day-to-day ruler of the kingdom ever since Fahd was incapacitated by a 1995 stroke.
Earlier Wednesday, Foreign Minister Prince Saud (search), another half-brother, said that calls for holy war in neighboring Iraq were illegitimate and Saudi Arabia did not permit its citizens to go fight there.
Saudi newspapers recently have published obituaries and news of funerals held by Saudi families for loved ones said to have died fighting the U.S.-led occupation in Iraq.
Also, the Arabic dialect used by a kidnapper in the videotaped beheading of South Korean hostage Kim Sun-il (search), a 33-year-old employee of a supply company in Iraq, pegged him to many Arabs as hailing from the Arabian Peninsula.
"We don't allow that," Prince Saud told reporters when asked about Saudis fighting in Iraq. "Why should people go to Iraq for a holy war? Iraq is a Muslim country and the only religious duty in Iraq should be to help the Iraqi people. Any call for holy war [in Iraq] is illegitimate."
He did not say what sort of measures are being taken to ensure Saudi militants don't go to Iraq.
Last week, a Saudi family held a funeral in the northern city of Hail, where relatives received condolences for a Saudi reportedly killed in Fallujah, Iraq.
Some Saudi followers of a prominent hard-line Saudi cleric, Sheik Saleh al-Fawzan (search), also reportedly visited Iraq, going into Fallujah recently and distributing 10,000 copies of a book al-Fawzan wrote that includes calls for holy war against Americans.
A videotape of Kim's slaying, parts of which were aired on the pan-Arab satellite station al-Jazeera, included spoken remarks from one of the militants pictured.
On Wednesday, columnist Adnan Hussein wrote in the London-based but Saudi-owned newspaper Asharq al-Awsat, that "the dialect of the commander of the group indicated he is from the Peninsula and the Gulf."
Several Saudis told The Associated Press the speaker spoke with a Saudi accent.
Foreign fighters, Saddam loyalists and radical Shiite militiamen are all fighting the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq. There are no reliable figures on how many Saudis have gone to Iraq to fight or encourage militants.
"All the state institutions stand against all those who incite or encourage terrorism. Or, even if they keep silent, Iraq is a dear country to us and we will not allow any Saudi to increase Iraq's problems. We will do all our efforts to help achieve stability in Iraq," Prince Saud said.
Of the South Korean's beheading in the name of Islam, the foreign minister said it proves "terrorism has no conscience. ...These people have no human values, they are far away from Islam."
The foreign minister referred questions about developments in the most recent terror attack in Saudi Arabia — the June 12 kidnapping Johnson — to the Interior Ministry.
Authorities were still searching for Johnson's body. The alleged mastermind of his kidnapping and many other attacks was killed in a shootout with security forces last week. Several other militants were killed, injured or arrested in what the Saudis said was a big setback to Al Qaeda in the kingdom.
"We believe that what happened was a major blow to the terrorists, but when the danger ends it will be clear," Saud said. "We will never waver. We will never stop until we have all the assurances and guarantees that it is over. ... It is important to be assured that it is crystal-clear over."
Johnson's killing was only the latest in a string of fatal attacks targeting foreigners. Prince Saud reiterated that foreign residents of the kingdom should feel assured that measures are being taken to keep them safe.
"This country will make the necessary efforts to protect [foreign] residents the same way it protects its citizens," he said.
Security measures have noticeably increased throughout the kingdom, with razor wire and high walls being erected around residential compounds and some office buildings.
In the eastern oil city of Khobar (search), where many foreigners work and where a May terror attack killed 22 people, armored personnel carriers, soldiers toting machine guns and piles of sandbags are visible outside housing compounds for Westerners.
Prince Saud was critical of U.S. policy in the Middle East, but accused it of fueling anger among Saudis rather than hatred.
"I don't think one can generalize by saying that the Saudi community hates the United States ... I think these are feelings of anger in this country, particularly in regard to injustices being perpetrated against the Palestinians," he said.
A just resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian crisis is often cited in the Arab world as the key to creating a peaceful Middle East.
Much of the anti-American sentiment in the region is fueled by the U.S. led occupation of Iraq but is rooted in Washington's close alliance with Israel, with many Arabs convinced America cannot be an honest peace broker.
"Limited amnesty" seems more accurate. The Saudis are rolling back the death penalty but still willing to prosecute. I wouldn't call that amnesty but I'd certainly say they're appeasing a bit. At least there is an ultimatum.
I think you're taking things too literaly. It's just a headline, meant to be short and short.
I mean look at the number of news outlets using similar headlines
FoxNews(Saudis announce amnesty for militants suspected of terrorist acts)
Reuters
bloomberg
Deutsche Welle
Guardian
Japan Today
AFP
CBC news
Al Bawaba
The Washington Times
Voice of America
CTV
New York Times
BBC news
Australian
USA today
Phildelphia Inquirer
Australian Broadcasting Corp
Toronto Star
Irish Examiner World
Houston Chronicle
Star-Telegram
Middle East online
Actually, I think FoxNews headline was "Saudis give Terrorists Month to Surrender". In the article I read, they then referenced "limited amnesty".
The point is, beyond this article, CNN plays games with their headlines which are often clearly slanted in a direction away from the meat of the story. They know how many people don't read beyond the headline.
__________________
"I was always taught to respect my elders, but it keeps getting harder to find one." - Ronny
I wasn't offering Fox as the "correct" alternative, by any means. I just felt their reporting was more accurate and informative on this particular article. All news media screw up at times.
I don't like the use of the term "amnesty" at all in this instance because amnesty is defined as a general pardon that absolves a criminal completely of any wrongdoing. Limited amnesty is an oxymoron, since amnesty is described as "general" in its own definition. If the circumstances do not include a general pardon, the term "amnesty" should not be used. I know it's merely semantics, but I'm a stickler for clear communication and I believe misunderstandings should be avoided on topics as important as these.
Let's change the discussion a bit. What does everyone think of the Saudi solution?
I think it's a good solution as long as the Saudi's have the cojones to back up their words with real action. I'm afraid that they may just be grandstanding, though. Also, why give the terrorists a whole month to surrender? I think a week sounds about right. It shouldn't take a whole month to crawl out from under a rock and surrender. We all know that the terrorists will not surrender to a Saudi govt. threat, and giving them a whole month allows them more time to prepare for a counterattack.
Saudi Arabia will allow foreigners who feel threatened by the wave of violence in the kingdom to carry guns for their protection.
"In principle, a citizen has the right to carry a licensed weapon, and so does the resident. If he senses danger, he can carry a personal weapon as he does in his country," Prince Nayef said late Wednesday.
A Western diplomat had said some embassies and foreign companies had asked Saudi authorities to ease rules barring private security guards from carrying weapons. Nayef's comment appeared to be a response to the requests.
Under Saudi law, foreigners — even security guards — cannot have weapons, while Saudis must apply for a permit. Nayef's comments suggested foreigners would be allowed to seek permits, though he did not elaborate.
Al-Qaida-linked gunmen in Saudi Arabia have stepped up their campaign of attacks, targeting foreign workers with an assault on a Riyadh housing compound in May that killed 22 people, a series of shootings and the kidnapping and beheading of an American, Paul M. Johnson Jr.
The bloodshed has spread fear among foreign expatriates. An estimated 8.8 million foreigners work among 17 million Saudis. Most hold low-skill jobs, but many work in the oil, banking and other vital sectors.
Westerners working in Saudi Arabia contacted by The Associated Press had mixed reactions to the possibility of being able to carry firearms.
"I like the concept, I think its a great idea, but I hope they implement this quickly," said Jack Smith of St. Louis, who lives in the Saudi capital, Riyadh.
Smith, a gun owner in the United States, warned that people unfamiliar with weapons should get training.
"There's a lot of twitchy foreigners out there, and it could be a bigger problem if they are suddenly given a weapon in a moderately threatening situation," he said.
Another American working in western Saudi Arabia, who wanted to be identified only by his first name, Bob, also welcomed the move, but urged caution. "There are many bad examples of people owning guns in the States and we don't want to have the same situation here," he said.
Another Western diplomat said a group of Western ambassadors will meet Foreign Minister Prince Saud on Sunday in Jiddah to discuss security for foreigners.
Nayef has urged wanted militants to take up an amnesty offer made by the kingdom's rulers, "or else they will face a stronger and tougher method."
Crown Prince Abdullah, the kingdom's de facto ruler, issued the ultimatum Wednesday in the name of King Fahd, his ailing half brother, for anyone not yet "arrested for carrying out terrorist acts."
Nayef said only those who committed acts that hurt others would be prosecuted, and no one who turns himself in would face the death penalty.
Late Thursday, the Interior Ministry said a wanted militant surrendered to police "hours after" the amnesty announcement. Saaban bin Mohamed bin Abdullah Alleihi al-Shihri, who has been in hiding for almost two years, was sought in a "security-related case," the ministry statement said without elaborating.
Al-Shihri's name does not appear on a list of 26 most-wanted Saudis. The ministry said he can stay with his family until investigations begin.
Nayef said the amnesty would also apply to two men who surrendered last year, Ali Abd al-Rahman al-Faqasi al-Ghamdi and Mansour Mohammed Ahmed Faqih.
Saudi police on Thursday resumed searches in Riyadh's Suweidi neighborhood and several other districts for gunmen, conducting house-to-house hunts for suspects and advising families with children to leave the area.
Suweidi has been the scene of confrontations between government forces and gunmen.
Lousy CNN reporting on Saudi proclaimation today
