Emirati donor saves Saudi from execution

An unknown Emirati man saved the life of a Saudi sentenced to death on homicide charges after donating half the SR10 million (Dh9.9 million) blood money demanded by the victim’s family, a newspaper in the Gulf Kingdom reported on Monday.

Relatives of the convicted killer Abdul Rahman Al Otaibi had raced against time to pay the sum but managed to raise only SRfive million, which was rejected by the victim’s family, prompting the court to postpone execution for a few days.

Sabq newspaper quoted the killer’s father, Sheikh Zayed bin Abdullah Al Otaibi, as saying they had raised the entire sum after an Emirati donor paid the rest.

“We have handed over the diya (blood money) to the victim’s family, which announced they were pardoning my son and dropping the case against him,” Otaibi said.

Sabq said Abdul Rahman was sentenced to death after causing the death of his friend Abdul Ilah when he slapped him during a fight in their town of Al Dawani near the Saudi capital Riyadh a few years ago.

Under Islamic law, which is strictly enforced by Saudi Arabia, a convicted killer can be saved from the gallows and walk free in most cases if forgiven by the victim’s relatives in return for diya.

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