Al-Qaeda 'leader' surrenders
2004-07-13 17:14
Riyadh - A disabled wanted Saudi militant and suspected al-Qaeda leader has turned himself in to authorities under a royal amnesty, the interior ministry announced on Tuesday.
"The wanted Saudi Khaled bin Odeh bin Mohammed al-Harbi, alias Abu Suleiman al-Makki, who had been in the Iranian-Afghan border region, contacted the (Saudi) embassy in Iran", state television reported, quoting an interior ministry official.
Harbi said he wanted to take up the amnesty offer and was flown to Saudi Arabia after an identity check, the official said.
"Since he is paralysed, he will be transferred directly to hospital to receive medical treatment," he said.
State TV showed Harbi being carried down a plane and put on a wheelchair. He was accompanied by a woman and a teenager.
He is only the third militant to surrender since the one-month amnesty was offered on June 23, but does not figure on a most-wanted list of suspected Islamist militants.
AFP
- AFP