A wanted Saudi militant has surrendered to authorities in Saudi Arabia, the Interior Ministry said Wednesday, less than a week after another militant, also on the Saudi wanted list, secured a meeting with Prince Muhammad Bin Naif by claiming he wanted to surrender and then tried to kill the Prince. Prince Muhammad, Assistant Minister of Interior for Security Affairs, was lightly injured in last Thursday's attack for which Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula later claimed responsibility. The Interior Ministry statement Wednesday said Fawwaz Al-Otaibi, 36, had called up his relatives and said he wanted to return to the Kingdom and turn himself in. Otaibi was allowed to perform the minor Umrah pilgrimage in Makkah Tuesday, the ministry's security spokesman said, without stating when Al-Otaibi contacted his parents or how long he has been in custody. Details about Al-Otaibi released by the ministry in February said he had left the Kingdom for the United Arab Emirates a year ago and that his last known whereabouts were in Iran. Saudi Arabia issued the wanted list in February, with the names of 83 Saudis and two Yemenis, all living abroad. Prince Muhammad's attacker, Abdullah Hassan Taali' Asiri, was hiding in Yemen before he surfaced last week. He blew himself up just a meter away from the Prince while a phone call was being made to another Yemen-based Saudi militant who Asisri said also wanted to return and surrender. The security spokesman said Al-Otaibi will be treated in line with procedures in such cases. “His initiative to return home and the role of his family in this respect will be taken into account when his case is considered,” the spokesman said. The statement reiterated the Interior Ministry's call to all persons wanted by the security authorities to abandon the deviant ideas and to surrender to the authorities concerned so as to benefit from the circumstances which will be taken into account when their situation is addressed by the judiciary.”
