RIYADH: A number of terror suspects including three men whose names figured on the list of 85 suspects released by the Ministry of Interior will soon go on trial in Saudi courts. “These militants, including the three who surrendered themselves before Saudi police recently under pressure from family and friends, are behind bars for plotting attacks against the Kingdom from abroad,” Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki said on Wednesday. “Everybody will be tried in a fair manner,” said Al-Turki, referring to those who are currently in detention facing terrorism charges. Al-Turki declined to say how many of these suspects are currently in Saudi jails.
RIYADH: The case of the Canadian brothers, in which one of the young men has been sentenced to death, has taken a new turn after the victim’s family has allegedly demanded five million dollars as blood money (diyyah). The father of the brothers says the family can only afford SR500,000. “The case has also bounced back again to Jeddah General Court from the Supreme Judicial Council while family members are waiting in despondency to hear the court’s directives in the case,” said Ali Kohail, father of Mohammed Kohail and Sultan Kohail, the two brothers found guilty of a death that occurred in a schoolyard brawl, on Saturday.
RIYADH: The death sentence handed to eight Bangladeshi workers for killing an Egyptian has not been carried out. The Saudi Foreign Ministry has sent no information to the Bangladeshi Embassy. M. Haroonur Rashid, labor counselor at the embassy, said: “The embassy has sent a letter to the ministry seeking information about the workers currently in Malaz Prison after their convictions following a court battle.”
RIYADH: A major solar eclipse lasting for more than six minutes will take place on Wednesday. Zaki Mostafa, a Saudi astronomer said, “Such a spectacular celestial event, the longest total solar eclipse, will not be surpassed again until 2132. It will be invisible in Saudi Arabia but will be visible in China, Pakistan, India, Japan and the South Pacific Ocean.”
RIYADH: Farouk Saad Hamad Al-Zuman, the first Saudi to leave his footprints on the earth’s highest summit, was felicitated at a ceremony held in Riyadh on Tuesday night by the New Zealand Embassy. Al-Zuman — nicknamed “Hillary of Saudi Arabia” after Sir Edmund Hillary, the New Zealander who was the first man to reach the top of Mt. Everest — was commended for the courage and conviction he showed in climbing the mount in May last year.
RIYADH, 26 June 2007 — It took 26 years, but the family of an expatriate royal driver who was accidentally run over and killed by another driver to King Khaled on Nov. 25, 1981, has received SR100,000 in blood money. “The whole credit to settle the case and pay blood money goes to Princess Moudhi bint Khaled ibn Abdul Aziz (daughter to the late king) who wanted immediate settlement of the matter as per Islamic justice system and as per the late King Khaled’s wishes,” said Anwar Hussain, the attorney representing the family of Omaruddin Bhutta, the worker who was killed in the accident.
RIYADH: Capt. Hanadi Zakaria Al-Hindi, the first Saudi woman pilot, hopes to return soon to the cockpit. Employed by Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, chief of the Kingdom Holding Company (KHC), the 29-year-old has been released from a Jeddah hospital following successful abdominal surgery. “The surgery will ensure my medical fitness, God willing,” said Al-Hindi yesterday by phone from Makkah. “I am hopeful that I will soon be flying again.” She thanked Prince Alwaleed for his “kind words, encouragement and support during this period.” Asked about her job at KHC, she said, “I am proud of myself and my family for supporting me, and I’m proud of Prince Alwaleed who has extended all help.”
RIYADH/DHAHRAN: Saudi Aramco and France’s Total said yesterday that they would invest SR36 billion to build the Jubail oil refinery. “The refinery is now expected to be fully operational by the second half of 2013,” said Khalid Al-Falih, chief executive of Saudi Aramco, in a statement. “Today we are marking a major milestone in our partnership with Total, which has been strong historically but is now stronger than ever.” The two companies have set up the joint venture Saudi Aramco Total Refining and Petrochemical Company” (SATORP) to build and operate the refinery.
RIYADH: A Saudi court has authorized the payment of SR200,000 in blood money to the family of Suryati Bint Dulbari Nurisman, an Indonesian maid in her 20s the authorities say was tortured and beaten to death by a Saudi housewife. “This is a case of brutal murder because Dulbari’s sponsor and his wife have been periodically beating her,” said Wishnu Krisnamurthi, a spokesman of the Indonesian Embassy. Krisnamurthi said he appreciated the role of Saudi officials in Al-Ahsa, Eastern Province, where the housemaid used to work for the family of a Saudi national. (The names of the Saudi and his wife are being withheld as per Arab News policy.)
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has started production from its giant Khurais oil field. The Saudi Aramco’s mega oil project carried out at a cost of SR37 billion will bring more oil on stream than the production of Qatar or Indonesia and will boost the Kingdom’s production capacity from 11.3 million bpd to 12.5 million bpd this year. “The crude capacity of the Khurais field is 1.25 million bpd,” said Ali Al-Naimi, minister of petroleum and mineral resources. This is in addition to the 900,000 bpd Moneefa oil field expansion project that will be completed in 2013, two years later than the initial schedule, but only if global demand for crude warrants,” said the minister in a statement yesterday.