MIDDLE EAST Saudi Arabia offers amnesty to terrorists

The offer shouldn't be viewed as a deal with terrorists, a Saudi official said.
JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia (AP) -- Saudi Arabia gave Islamic militants in the kingdom one month to surrender and save their lives, vowing to unleash the government's "full might" on extremist groups that have attacked foreigners.
Crown Prince Abdullah, the kingdom's de facto ruler, issued the ultimatum Wednesday in the name of King Fahd, his ailing half-brother.
"We swear by God that nothing will prevent us from striking with our full might, which we derive from relying on God," Abdullah said, using some of the strongest language yet against militants.
Abdullah said the amnesty offer was open to anyone who has not yet been "arrested for carrying out terrorist acts."
"We are opening the door of forgiveness," the crown prince said. "Islamic law will be applied to everyone who deviated from the path of right and committed a crime in the name of religion."
Under the amnesty, only those who committed acts that hurt others would be prosecuted, and no one who turns himself in would face the death penalty.
Adel al-Jubeir, the foreign affairs adviser to Crown Prince Abdullah, later told The Associated Press the offer should not be interpreted as amnesty, a word Abdullah didn't use during the speech. Nor should the offer be interpreted as trying to broker a deal with terrorists, al-Jubeir said.
Al-Jubeir said Saudi authorities have dealt major blows to Al-Qaida in the kingdom recently, have support from the Saudi population and will not let up in their pursuit of terrorists during the month.
Also Wednesday, Foreign Minister Prince Saud denounced calls by militant clergy for Saudis to travel to Iraq to join insurgents battling the U.S. military and its Iraqi allies.
Saud condemned the beheading of South Korean civilian Kim Sun-il, whom militants had kidnapped in Iraq and whose body was found Tuesday near Baghdad.
In a videotape of the hostage, a kidnapper spoke with an Arabic accent that suggested he was from Saudi Arabia or a neighboring Gulf Arab state.
At a news conference Wednesday, Saud said calls for Saudis to wage holy war in Iraq were illegitimate and that the kingdom would not permit its citizens to go to the neighboring state to fight the U.S.-led forces.
Saudi newspapers have published obituaries and reports of funerals for Saudis who are said to have died fighting the occupying forces in Iraq.
Violence
In Saudi Arabia, the wave of violence began May 12, 2003, when car bombs targeted three compounds housing foreign workers, killing 35 people, including nine suicide bombers. Since then, the kingdom has suffered a series of suicide bombings, gunbattles and kidnappings.
As attacks in Saudi Arabia increased, the Saudi government has frequently urged Saudis to reject Islamic militant ideology, bringing "repentant" militant leaders onto state-run television to denounce violence.
But the beheading of American engineer Paul M. Johnson Jr., who was kidnapped in Riyadh on June 12, brought a vicious new edge to the attacks -- and heightened fears that the violence could drive out American and other Western workers vital to Saudi Arabia's oil and other industries.
Two other Americans and an Irish citizen were killed in the kingdom in the week before Johnson's slaying.
Al-Qaida and sympathizers of the terror network have been blamed for the attacks.