RIYADH, May 7: More than 11,000 Saudi and foreign prisoners, including Pakistanis jailed in various parts of Saudi Arabia, will benefit from an amnesty declared by King Abdullah. The nationality-wise breakdown of prisoners to be released would be clear after a list is finalised by the prison authorities.

“More than 11,000 men and women in the kingdom’s jails will be freed under the new amnesty,” Maj.-Gen. Ali Al-Harithy, director-general of prisons, was quoted as saying by the press.

Al-Harithy said that a panel would determine which prisoners qualified for amnesty.

Interior Minister Prince Naif Bin Abdul Aziz said convicts posing threat to state security or who had committed serious crimes would not benefit from the amnesty.