by Ali Khalil
RIYADH, July 22 (AFP) - The leader of Al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia and two other people on the country's most wanted list were prepared to surrender, a mediator said late Thursday, only hours before a month-long royal amnesty was to expire.
Sheikh Safar al-Hawali, who has mediated between Saudi authorities and terror suspects, told AFP that Saleh Mohammed al-Oufi was ready to give himself up along with two other unnamed suspects.
"Mediators confirmed that Oufi is willing to negotiate and they are optimistic about the results," Hawali said.
"Negotiations with the other two suspects who are also on the 26 most wanted list started over a month ago. They prefer to remain anonymous," he added.
Oufi was reportedly involved in the latest shoot-out between security forces and militants in Riyadh, which took place on Tuesday night. Two extremists were killed in raids by police that also led to the discovery in a refrigerator of the head of US hostage Paul Johnson, kidnapped last month by suspected Al-Qaeda members.
The amnesty offer expires Thursday night, and the interior ministry confirmed earlier that the deadline will not be extended.
The interior ministry said anyone wanting to surrender but living in remote areas could declare their willingness before the deadline while procedures would be completed later.
Hawali said that he has drawn a list of suspects willing to negotiate surrender, which he will present to Crown Prince Abdullah Thursday evening.
"Ten suspects on the list are in Saudi Arabia, while between 10 to 15 are in Arab countries", he added.
Hawali had told AFP earlier that Crown Prince Abdullah suggested collecting the names of those willing to negotiate surrendering. They will be included regardless of the period needed to conclude negotiations.
Officially, six terror suspects have taken up the amnesty offer so far. Only one is on the kingdom's most wanted list.
Fawzan bin Nasser bin Ahmad al-Fawzan was the latest to turn himself in to authorities. He arrived Thursday evening with his family in Riyadh after surrendering in the Saudi embassy in Damascus.
Another militant, Fayez bin Rashid bin Mohammad al-Khushman turned himself in earlier same evening in the western city of Taef, hours before the end of the amnesty offer.
Ibrahim al-Sadek al-Kaydi al-Harbi and Khaled bin Odeh bin Mohammed al-Harbi both surrendered last week and were extradited from Damascus and Tehran, respectively.
Khaled Harbi is suspected of being a top Al-Qaeda figure and close to Osama bin Laden.
Othman Hadi al-Maqbul al-Aamri, who is 19 on the wanted list, surrendered on June 28 after two years on the run, while Saaban bin Mohammed bin Abdullah al-Laylahi al-Shihri turned himself in the day after the amnesty was granted.
Al-Qaeda had swiftly rejected the pardon, issued on June 23, branding it in a statement posted on Islamist websites as destined to fail.
The Saudi monarch coupled the one-month deadline for a "last chance" to surrender with a warning of doom for those who ignore it.
Saudi officials have repeatedly urged members of "the deviant group" to repent.
"We hope that those remaining will be reasonable enough to use the period left to turn themselves in," Defence Minister Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz said Tuesday.
The authorities have already been piling the pressure on militants believed behind a spate of attacks in the oil-rich kingdom, which have killed some 90 people and wounded hundreds since May 2003.