RIZANA UPDATE 072407

Deputy Foreign Minister meets al Utaibi tribal leaders to seek pardon of the infants family for Rizana in Saudi
Tue, 2007-07-24 13:25
By Walter Jayawardhana

Asian Tribune
Sri Lanka’s Deputy Foreign Minister who is leading a delegation, now visiting the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh in a bid to save the life of a poor Sri Lankan girl condemned to death by beheading by a Sharia court said he has already met important and powerful tribal leaders of the Al Utaibi tribe to which the dead infant’s father belongs to, in an attempt to obtain a pardon.
"When the condemned girl’s parents visited her in a jail she reportedly told them that she never killed the four months old infant for which she is accused of and the baby died of choking milk while bottle feeding," Deputy Foreign Minister Hussein Bailah told the Sinhalese service of the BBC, Sandeshaya in an interview from Riyadh.
Bailah further said, "From the moment she saw the parents, she repeatedly said they must accompany her back home to Sri Lanka." But she assured them that she was being treated well by the prison authorities.
According to reports, Police produced an alleged confession that she has strangled the baby to death, obtained from the innocent girl under duress written in the Arabic language, which she could not either read or understand. The Sharia court which heard the case purely going on that confession condemned her to die by beheading in a public square. She was never asked whether the confession was true or not, nor she was explained the proceedings in a language understood by her. She was only just 17 years old at the time when the alleged crime occurred.
Hussein Bailah said since the Sri Lankan delegation arrived in Riyadh, they have been trying to meet many people. He said he did not meet any Saudi government officials at an official level, but met some at a personal level. He said right now the government could do little in regard to save the life of the condemned girl and the only possible avenue is to obtain a pardon from the deceased infant’s family. The father of the infant Naif Jiziyan Khalif Al Otaibi has so far refused to give pardon to the now 19 year old Rizana Nafeek for the death of the infant.
The Sri Lankan Deputy Foreign Minister said some of the people whom he met at a personal capacity led him to the tribal leaders of the infant’s father and one person was an important leader of the tribe.
The Deputy Foreign Minister further said that he would now try to move from Riyadh to Jedda, Madina and Mecca where there are important holy mosques of the Islam, located. He said to meet the Imams of those mosques no permission of the Saudi Foreign Ministry is necessary and his party will be meeting those religious leaders in a further bid to seek their interference in seeking a pardon from the baby’s father.
Hussein Bailah said when he met the tribal leaders of Al Utaibi they promised to discuss the matter among them and to decide to take a decision after holding a tribal conference. The Deputy Minister said the meeting cannot be expected to take place in a day or two and it would take some time.
The parents of the condemned girl, Mr.M. S. Sulthan and Mrs. S. A. Razeena will be given another chance of meeting their daughter at the jail before the delegation leaves Saudi Arabia by the end of this week, the Sri Lankan Deputy Foreign Minister further said.
- Asian Tribune -