The mothers of several wanted Islamic militants in Saudi Arabia have appealed to their sons to give themselves up after the surrender of one of the main suspects.
"I appeal to Turky to give himself up like Ghamdi did," 70-year-old Eida Raji Saleh al-Balhoud, mother of Turky al-Dandani, the most wanted terror suspect, told Okaz daily.
His colleague, Ali Abdulrahman Said al-Faqaasi al-Ghamdi, turned himself in Thursday amid a huge manhunt after suicide attacks in Riyadh killed 35 people, including at least nine bombers, on May 12.
"If you want to see me happy and satisfied, please hurry up and turn yourself in. They will reach you sooner or later," Balhoud warned from her home in Skaka, in the northern Al-Jouf province.
Dandani, 27, tops a wanted list of 19 men published by the Saudi security authorities just a few days before the suicide bombings in the capital. Ghamdi was No. 2 on the list.
Dandani had traveled to Afghanistan two years ago and returned five months later, his brother Saud told the newspaper.
In Washington, a US official said Ghamdi's surrender was a significant setback to al-Qaeda, taking out of action the network's senior operative in the kingdom.
"It's a serious blow to al-Qaeda. He is definitely the senior operative in the Saudi operation," the official said, adding that he was known to be plotting other attacks against US targets in the kingdom and elsewhere.
The mothers of Abdulaziz al-Mugren and Othman al-Omari, both on the list of 19, also appealed to their sons to surrender.
The pair had also been to Afghanistan before returning to Saudi Arabia and are believed to be members of the al-Qaeda terror network and involved in the Riyadh blasts.
Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz told Okaz it was "better for the suspects to surrender," because the security forces will arrest them sooner or later.
He said that some 50 suspects had been held following the Riyadh bombings. Those detained include seven women.
Saudi security forces had on Tuesday arrested six more suspects, three of them carrying maps of several "vital government installations."
Nayef said several other suspects were still being hunted, including "a few important members who may have played major roles," in the bombings.
Saudi Arabia's grand mufti, the highest religious authority in the kingdom, issued a warning to Saudis not to harbor the remaining fugitive militants.
"We must never protect those who are behind an incident in the country, but denounce them," Sheikh Abdulaziz al-Sheikh told Al-Hayat newspaper.
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