Saudi al-Qaeda chief's wife freed

An month-long amnesty ended with few militants turning themselves in

Saudi police have released Fawzia Sauni, wife of the suspected al-Qaeda chief in the kingdom, Saleh Oufi.

Her brother Humaid said she had been released on Tuesday. Ms Sauni, who is said to be pregnant, was detained in July during a police raid.

Saudi officials did not say if she would face charges, after questioning her for being in a "suspicious place".

The authorities believe the fugitive Mr Oufi took over the militant group after the previous head was killed in June.

Humaid Sauni said he had appealed to the interior minister to have his sister released because she was pregnant, he told Reuters news agency.

"She could be questioned without having to be detained," he said.

The Okaz daily newspaper has quoted relatives as saying that she wants to divorce Mr Oufi after he was revealed to be one of Saudi Arabia's most wanted alleged militants.

Weapons cache

Militants from the al-Qaeda 's organisation have killed about 90 policemen and civilians in a 15-month campaign of suicide bombings and shootings that have seriously disrupted life in the world's biggest oil exporter.

In June the then alleged leader of the group, Abdul Aziz Muqrin and three associates were gunned down by security forces shortly after a series of grisly photographs posted on an al-Qaeda website showed a US hostage being beheaded.

Ms Sauni was detained after two militants were killed and three others injured in a police raid on a house where she was staying in Riyadh in July.

A large cache of weapons was found at the building.

Reports said the couple's three children were detained at the same time as Ms Sauni and have also been released.