15 July 2008 :

Qatar freed a Saudi Arabian sentenced to death for involvement in an attempted coup d'etat in 1996, the Saudi newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat reported. Pardoned by the emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani after spending nearly 12 years in prison, Wabran al-Yami was released and returned home. His freedom followed an approach by Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef bin Abdel Aziz, the newspaper added. Yami was the only Saudi among 19 people sentenced to death after an attempted coup the Qatari authorities said was foiled in February 1996. The pardon comes as Qatar and Saudi Arabia rebuild their tense relations. The aborted coup aimed to overthrow the current emir.