RIYADH, Oct 5: The Saudi government has begun trying suspected militants in Islamic courts, the deputy interior minister said in an interview with a television network on Thursday.

Interior Minister Prince Naif had announced the setting up of a special court to try Al Qaeda suspects. These courts were expected to be set up by the end of the year. But the deputy minister’s statement means the militants would be tried in normal, Shariat courts.

Rights activist Ibrahim al-Mugaiteeb said a lack of information about the trials was worrying. “Through all this period that they are being questioned we don’t know anything about them,” Al-Mugaiteeb said.

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