PA calls on Saudis to pardon Palestinian poet on death row

The Palestinian Authority has called on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to pardon a Palestinian poet who has been sentenced to death for renouncing Islam.

“We appeal to our brothers in Saudi Arabia to pardon Ashraf Fayyad,” said a PA statement after the cabinet’s weekly meeting in Ramallah on Tuesday. “We value highly the kingdom’s long-standing support for our people and our cause under the leadership of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.”

A group of Palestinian intellectuals have launched a petition calling on Arab writers and intellectuals to demand Fayyad’s release. The poet, 35, was sentenced to death by a Saudi court on Tuesday.

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