Saudi king asks repentance, then promises crackdown

Soon, there will be no more room for excuses.
The Saudi royal family has laid down the law -- Islamic law -- in what it says will be a merciless crackdown on Islamic militants.
Saudi Arabia has a problem with militants.
For one thing, 15 of the 19 hijackers on Sept. 11, 2001, were Saudis. The mastermind behind the attack, Osama bid Laden, is a Saudi. And the official religion of Saudi Arabia is a very fundamental strain of Islam, which shows no tolerance for infidels, such as Christians and Jews.
The Saudi government paid lip service to the fight against terrorism, but little more.
Essentially, the ruling family walked a tightrope between maintaining its business relationship with the West and avoiding turmoil at home from militants who would have happily brought down the royal house of Fahd and thrown all westerners out of the country.
Last week, King Fahd decreed that militants have one last chance to mend their ways. They have 30 days to turn themselves in and to renounce their past. Those who have brought harm to no one will be forgiven. Those who have killed or maimed will be spared the death penalty.
Shift in pressure
The 30-day period for repentance -- though it sounds like an amnesty, the Saudis have avoided that word -- puts the pressure on the militants now, but at the end of the month the pressure will be on the Saudi government.
The king's announcement was endorsed Friday by Sheik Abdel Aziz bin al-Sheik, the mufti of Saudi Arabia and a member of one of the country's most respected families. "This is a blessing that you should thank God for and comply with," al-Sheik said, in a message aimed at the militants.
The king's offer is consistent with Islamic law, which places a high value on giving a sinner an opportunity to repent.
Some of the militants in Saudi Arabia have much to repent for. There have been bombings and killings and, of course, the kidnapping of American Paul Johnson, who was beheaded by terrorists.
This may be their last best chance to avoid being beheaded themselves.
It is certainly the last chance for Saudi Arabian rulers to take anything but a hard line against terrorism. The rulers have 30 days to offer forgiveness to the enemies of civilization and 30 days to plan for possible outbreaks of violence that will come when they begin arresting militants.
Then they must do what they should have started doing years ago. Raid the dens of the militants, arrest them and punish them.