RIYADH: A Saudi man who lost his eyesight after a fight with an Indian migrant worker said in remarks published on Monday he had pardoned the man, confirming reports that he would be spared the punishment of having an eye gouged out.

“I chose to pardon him at this specific time because King Abdullah will be visiting India,” Nayef Mohammad al Otaibi said, quoted by the daily Al Watan.

Mr Otaibi said he had thought before of forgiving the worker, Puthen Veetil Abdul Latheef Noushad, but balked at doing so because Noushad, who was sentenced by a Saudi court to have an eye gouged out, refused to apologise.

Noushad, 32, had been working at a petrol station in the eastern oil centre of Dammam in April 2003 when he had a fight with Mr Otaibi, a customer, over payment. Noushad was subsequently jailed.

The Saudi later lost his eyesight, but the Indian said it was not because of the injuries he inflicted, and that he had acted in self-defence.

Noushad filed a petition in 2004 to an appeals court which can ask a victim for a pardon, but the victim had previously refused to settle for monetary compensation because Noushad refused to apologise.

It was unclear whether Mr Otaibi had accepted compensation from Noushad in exchange for granting the pardon.—AFP