Saudi Arabia releases detained Hamas leader

GAZA CITY, Palestine

Saudi Arabia has released Hamas leader Mohammed al-Khudari, the Palestinian group confirmed on Wednesday.

Al-Khudari, 84, was detained by Saudi authorities in 2019 among 60 group members and sympathizers.

Last year, a Saudi court slapped al-Khudari with a 15-year jail term on charges of “providing support to the resistance”, before the sentence was reduced to three years in prison.

“We hope the release will be a step towards settling the issue of all detained group members and sympathizers in the kingdom,” Hamas spokesman Abdel-Latif al-Qanoua told Anadolu Agency.

There was no comment from Saudi authorities on the report.

* Ikram Imane Kouachi contributed to this report