SAUDI ARABIA: Saudi Arabia gave al-Qaeda supporters a final chance to surrender yesterday under a one-month amnesty.
"Those who surrender voluntarily within no more than one month from the date of this speech...will be treated according to God's law," Crown Prince Abdullah said in a speech on behalf of King Fahd which was carried on state television.
However, the speech, aimed at low-level supporters of Saudi-born Osama bin Laden's network, warned that if they did not hand themselves in they would face the state's "unflinching power and unshakeable determination".
A security source said those who had already killed would not be spared justice.
"Members of this group who were not arrested in terrorist operations have a chance to return to God," he said.
"God is merciful and therefore we announce, for the last time, that we are opening the door to an amnesty and a return to the righteous path for everyone who strayed off that path and committed crimes," the prince said.
Meanwhile, security forces killed al-Qaeda's leader in Saudi Arabia, Abdulaziz al-Muqrin, and three other senior militants on Friday, hours after militants beheaded US hostage Paul Johnson.
Saudi authorities later announced they had arrested 12 militants. One Saudi source said among them were prominent figures on the kingdom's list of its 26 most-wanted suspects, including senior strategist Abdullah al-Rushoud.
Al-Qaeda, which has waged a year-long campaign of violence targeting westerners, government sites and oil workers in the kingdom, has vowed to continue its jihad (holy struggle) to drive foreigners from the birthplace of Islam and topple its royal rulers.
The violence has prompted some foreigners to leave, but Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal vowed the kingdom would do all it could to ensure the safety of the thousands of westerners who form a crucial part of the workforce.
"This country will do its utmost to protect the (foreign) residents just like we protect our own people," he said, adding that he had not heard of any major exodus of westerners.