Prince Khaled bin Talal of Saudi Arabia has pledged to add $900,000 to a bounty offered by a Saudi cleric to any Palestinian who kidnaps an Israeli soldier.

 

Khaled, brother of Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, made his declaration, he said, in response to unconfirmed reports that Israelis offered a $1 million reward to anyone who killed Awad al-Qarni, who pledged $100,000 to capture an Israeli soldier.

 

“Dr Awad al-Qarni said he was offering $100,000 to only take a prisoner but they responded by offering $1 million to kill Awad al-Qarni,” Prince Khaled said, according to Reuters.

 

It was unclear who Khaled meant by “they.”

 

Qarni said he offered his bounty only after Rabbi Menachem Liebman, father of settlement security guard Shlomo Liebman, who was murdered in 1998, reportedly said he would pay $100,000 to anyone who would either murder his son’s killers, Huliad Ramadan and Nidar Ramadan, or help the family track them down.

 

The tit-for-tat bounties follow the recent prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas, in which one Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, was freed in return for more than 1,000 Palestinians let out of prison.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

Saudi Prince Backs Cleric's Bounty Offer for Israeli Soldier (Reuters)

Saudi Royal Offers $1m Israeli-Soldier Bounty (Al Jazeera)