Saudi Arabia plans to try 991 suspected al-Qaeda militants for carrying out 30 attacks since 2003, Saudi media reported today.
A statement from Interior Minister Prince Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz said charges had been laid against the suspects, who have been transferred to the courts for trial.
"Saudi Arabia has faced in recent years an organised terrorist campaign that struck at society, its way of life and the economy . . . and it was directly linked to the organisation called al-Qaeda," the statement said.
The indictments aim to end an end to a chapter of violent opposition to the government run by the Al Saud family in alliance with clerics.
The accused include some clerics who had publicly backed the militants, sources told Reuters.
The statement said more than 160 planned attacks had been foiled and the dead included 74 members of the security forces and 90 ordinary Saudis and foreign residents. It did not say how many militants died in the campaign. It said cyanide gas was among the weapons seized during the crackdown.
Judges in Riyadh's general court began viewing the cases on Monday, but it was not clear when the trials would begin.
Prince Nayef said the trials would take place in the existing court system, after two years of speculation that the Saudi government would set up special courts for the purpose.
The Islamic Sharia courts are overseen by cleric-judges of Saudi Arabia's austere version of Sunni Islam. Judges often refuse defendants the right of legal representation.
Reuters