The fate of the British nurse Deborah Parry took another twist last night when it was alleged that the brother of murder victim Yvonne Gilford had demanded $1.2 million (£821,000) to save her from execution.
Mr Frank Gilford, who lives in South Australia, had earlier insisted he would make use of his right under Saudi law which allows him to call for the death penalty to be carried out. But yesterday Parry's defence lawyer claimed Mr Gilford had agreed to a compensation package which would leave him with a personal pay-off of $700,000 (£480,000). As part of the deal, another $500,000 would be donated to an Australian children's hospital.
"It [the agreement] was signed one week ago. . .$500,000 for an Australian children's hospital and the rest for him," Mr Salah al-Hejailan told Reuter's newsagency by telephone from the United States. Mr Gilford's sister Yvonne (55) was found murdered in Saudi Arabia last December.
But Mr Gilford's lawyers in Australia denied that their client had waived any rights to demand the death penalty for Deborah Parry.
However, if such an agreement has been reached, there would be no prospect of Parry being beheaded publicly, a diplomatic catastrophe which the Saudi authorities are anxious to avoid.
But the rift between London and Riyadh deepened yesterday over the likely flogging of the second British nurse, Lucille McLauchlan, who was sentenced to eight years in prison and 500 lashes on Tuesday. She was found by a Saudi court to have been an accessory to the murder of Ms Gilford.
Mr al-Hejailan said yesterday the compensation had been agreed in a contract signed by Mr Gilford and lodged with the British High Commission in Australia. "Gilford wants to have his cake and eat it," he said. "He has signed a document saying that when he receives the money, he will waive the death penalty. Once you start talking about taking money in lieu of a death sentence, then that is it."
The lawyer said the confusion which has surrounded Mr Gilford's intentions was caused by his deep embarrassment over his demand for money. Under Islamic sharia law, the relatives of a murder victim are entitled to receive blood money when they waive a death sentence.
The Saudi embassy yesterday said relatives in cases of murder rarely accept compensation, known in the Arab world as diya. The amount paid is usually only a fraction of Mr Gilford's demand of around $24,000.
In New York, officials travelling with the British Foreign Secretary, Mr Robin Cook, insisted last night that there would be no public discussion of retaliation against Saudi Arabia, as intensive diplomatic efforts continued to ensure that the flogging on McLauchlan was not carried out.
Both nurses have said that their confessions were extracted after their Saudi police interrogators had sexually abused and threatened them.