Riyadh, Asharq Al-Awsat- The father of Mohammed Al Qahtani the Saudi detainee who escaped from US Bagram prison in Afghanistan has cast doubt on recent reports of his son’s re-arrest.

Jaffar Ben Jamal Al Qahtani told Asharq al-Awsat that he would “contact the Saudi embassy in Islamabad to help get confirmed information concerning news of Mohamed’s arrest”. He added that he had been in touch with his son two weeks earlier, and that he had asked his son to request his friends to inform him if anything were to happen to his son, but that nobody has contacted him since.

In other news, Saudi Defense Minister Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz has announced the establishment of an Islamic tribunal to try extremists.

“Our country has been exposed to problems but cooperation between the men of the security services, the National Guard and the army has allowed the sedition to be put out,” he said in a speech Tuesday before military officers.

“Those who want the good of those close to them have returned (to the right path) but those who want evil will be judged according to Islamic norms,” said Prince Sultan, who is also the Gulf Arab state’s crown prince.

“A tribunal based on Sharia (Islamic law) has been put in place to judge those in prison,” he said, without giving numbers. “Sharia will apply to those who are found guilty.”