Will the one-month grace period granted by the Saudi government to militants prove effective, asks Sherine Bahaa The Saudi authorities have granted a one-month amnesty to militant Islamists to hand themselves and their weapons over to Saudi security forces. This seems to be the last resort by Saudi authorities to end months of violence. But will it work? According to Mohamed Bin Abdullah Al- Zolfah, Shura Council member, the amnesty is a good step that grants terror suspects the chance to repent and lead peaceful lives. "Coming after the recent clamp-down by the Saudi security forces on the terrorist cells that are affiliated with the Al-Qaeda organisation, the amnesty is a well- calculated move by the royal family to eradicate all signs of terrorism from the Saudi society," Al- Zolfah told Al-Ahram Weekly. In a speech to his people, Saudi King Fahd sent a clear message that those "criminal groups" operating inside the kingdom must give in to the authorities, issuing them a one-month deadline. According to the speech that was delivered by Crown Prince Abdullah, the state would drop its claims against the militants but added they would then face being tried under Sharia law. Effectively, this would mean that families of their victims could press for punishment. According to Al-Zolfah, the amnesty would best serve those who were not involved in any of the criminal acts that were carried out by those groups. It is the first time the Islamic state has resorted to pardoning militants. In the past, militants repented of their own accord. Four militant Islamists have surrendered thus far. However, the fact that a time frame was given for amnesty raises the question of whether there are other alternatives to be implemented if the amnesty fails. Interior Minister Prince Naif explained that the amnesty should not be regarded as a sign of inability or weakness of the kingdom but rather of strength. "After the one- month deadline we will hit them harder," he said after the surrender of a second suspect. Though a big show was made of the surrender of Othman Al-Amri, number 19 on a list of 26 wanted suspects, not many are expected to follow suit. The amnesty is aimed at ending months of violent attacks that occurred almost daily during some periods. At least 85 police and civilians, many of them foreigners, were killed by militants loyal to Osama Bin Laden, the Saudi-born leader of Al-Qaeda, an organisation bent on toppling Saudi Arabia's pro-US monarchy and expelling expatriate Westerners. While being subject to a spate of attacks, it is only natural for the foreign community to panic under such circumstances, with different sorts of hostilities that included suicide bombings, shootings, kidnapping, a four-day hostage drama, and the beheading of an American contractor. Saudi Arabia's image was already tarnished by the discovery that 15 of the 19 hijackers who carried out the 2001 attacks in New York and Washington were Saudis. Saudis and foreigners alike were shocked to learn that most of the hijackers were Saudis. Former expatriate community members said they fled their once "peaceful haven", as many of them used to call Saudi Arabia. Many moved their families to neighbouring countries like Bahrain and Dubai. A recent Gallup poll showed that many Saudis might sympathise or even directly favour the rhetoric of Bin Laden. But once they saw footage of the murder of civilians they rejected his tactics. "When we hear Bin Laden railing against the West, pointing out the corruption and incompetence of the Arab governments and the suffering of the Palestinians, it is like being transported to a dream," said a voter from a conservative Saudi province to the pollsters. However, he also said, "when we see the images of innocent people murdered for this ideology, it is as if we entered a nightmare." Bin Laden's rhetoric seems to touch a chord, especially when he highlights US bias towards Israel and what is seen as a Western grudge against Islamic dogma. Trying to curb the damages from the recent spate of attacks, the security apparatus has launched a recent clamp-down on terrorist cells that has rounded up more than 600 suspects and murdered around 11 of the 26 on the wanted list, including leader of the Al-Qaeda group Abdul- Aziz Al-Muqrin, in the country late last month. The target for all those attacks was clear: "break down the infrastructure and financial assets of the organisation". Lately, Crown Prince Abdullah, the country's de facto ruler, has moved to hunt down terrorists, cut off their finances, monitor charitable foundations and remove inflammatory clerics from their rostrums.
