RIYADH, July 18 (AFP) - Saudi Arabia, battling a wave of deadly terror attacks on its soil, said Sunday that 27 wanted suspects had been extradited to the kingdom, days before the expiry of an amnesty for militants to surrender.
It was not immediately clear if the suspects included two Saudi militants who turned themselves in last week under the one-month pardon and who were subsequently extradited to Saudi Arabia.
The amnesty, issued on June 23, has officially seen only four wanted militants come forward under government assurances that they would be exonerated should they repent.
Al-Qaeda was quick to reject the royal offer, branding it a "desperate attempt to halt the jihad (holy war) in the Arabian peninsula" and rendering it doomed to "inescapable failure" in a purported statement on Islamist websites.
"Twenty-seven Saudis wanted for security issues were handed over to the concerned security authorities by brotherly countries," a government spokesman was quoted as telling the state news agency SPA.
For the sake of the investigation, more information will be released "in due course", the spokesman said.
Saudi Arabia has launched a massive campaign against suspects blamed for a wave of attacks which have killed some 90 people and wounded hundreds since May 2003.
The authorities have said that the amnesty will not be extended, and those who opt not to take advantage of it have been threatened with a harsh crackdown.
The offer guarantees personal safety and the dropping of all charges for those who repent. It reserves the right of individuals harmed by terror acts to either seek redress through the courts or waive any claims.
Ibrahim al-Sadek al-Kaydi al-Harbi was the latest to surrender, turning himself over to the Saudi embassy in Damascus and returning to the kingdom on Saturday.
Khaled bin Odeh bin Mohammed al-Harbi, suspected of being a top Al-Qaeda figure close to Osama bin Laden, surrendered Tuesday at the kingdom's mission in Tehran and was also extradited to Riyadh.
Othman Hadi al-Maqbul al-Aamri, 37, a renegade former non-commissioned army officer, surrendered in the kingdom on June 28 after two years on the run.
Aamri is the only militant to surrender who figures at number 19 on the interior ministry's most-wanted list issued last December.
Saaban bin Mohammed bin Abdullah al-Laylahi al-Shihri, who was wanted in a security-related case, was the first to come forward, only one day after the amnesty was granted.
The offer of a pardon came close on the heels of the June 18 killing of Al-Qaeda's local chief, Abdul Aziz al-Muqrin, and three of his henchmen after websites posted photos of an American hostage they beheaded.
Muqrin's group last month vowed to rid the Arabian Peninsula of "infidels".
Thirteen militants on the 26-strong wanted list remain at large. The others have either been killed in clashes with security forces or surrendered.