MAKKAH, 15 March 2007 — A 28-year-old student, who was sentenced to death by a Makkah court for killing a friend, was spared the death sentence after the victim’s family forgave him. The family forgave the killer through the efforts of the Reconciliation Committee, which was set up under the supervision of Makkah Governor Prince Abdul Majeed.

Abdullah ibn Jaber Al-Thubaiti, a final year Arabic language student at Umm Al-Qura University, killed his friend Faraj Al-Thubaiti following a dispute. Abdullah was scheduled for execution a week ago but his father managed to secure a delay to the sentence in order to negotiate a pardon from the victim’s family.

Prince Abdul Majeed ordered the Reconciliation Committee to look into the case and to exhaust all avenues to avoid an execution. Following negotiations lasting over two hours, the victim’s family agreed to meet Abdullah’s family, something that happens extremely rare.

Deputy President of the Reconciliation Committee Dr. Ali Al-Zahrani, together with Head of Makkah Police Brig. Gen. Turki Al-Qanawi, met both families and managed to convince the victim’s family to forgive Abdullah.

The father of the victim forgave the 28-year-old saying he sought reward from God. Abdullah’s father thanked Prince Abdul Majeed for taking an interest in the case. With securing a pardon for Abdullah, the total number of people the Reconciliation Committee has managed to save from execution so far reached 111.