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King pardons rape victim

(CNN) -- Saudi King Abdullah has pardoned a rape victim who had been sentenced to 200 lashes and six months in prison in a case that sparked international attention, a Saudi newspaper has reported.

King Abdullah issued the royal pardon on Monday, Al-Jazirah newspaper quoted a Saudi Justice Ministry official as saying.

Saudi sources told CNN that the king's pardon was not related to the beginning of the Hajj nor the Eid al-Adha festival that follows, which is normally when the Saudi monarch issues amnesty for prisoners.

Saudi Arabia's justice minister said the king felt the pardon would be in the best interests of the Saudi people, and the decision did not reflect any lack of confidence in the Saudi justice system.

The White House welcomed King Abdullah's decision, but National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe stressed that "this is obviously a matter for the Saudi Arabians and King Abdullah."

A Saudi court ruled the 19-year-old had an "illegitimate relationship" with a man who was not her husband, and that the rape occurred after she and the man were discovered in a "compromising situation, her clothes on the ground."

The attacks took place in Qatif in March 2006 when the woman was engaged to be married.

The case has drawn international attention, provoked outrage in the West and cast light on the treatment of women under strict Islamic law in Saudi Arabia.

The woman was meeting with a man -- described by the woman's attorney as a former friend from whom she was retrieving a photograph -- when they both were abducted last March.

Seven men were convicted in their abduction and her rape and received sentences ranging from 10 months to five years in jail.

The Saudi lawyer who represented the woman faced a disciplinary hearing for "insulting the Supreme Judicial Council and disobeying the rules and regulations" of the judiciary. The hearing has been postponed.

Abdul Rahman al-Lahem said the rape case had elicited a fierce response, including calls for his beheading.
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U.S. President George W. Bush said last week that King Abdullah "knows our position loud and clear" on the case.

Under Saudi law, women are subject to numerous restrictions, including a strict dress code, a prohibition against driving and a requirement that they get a man's permission to travel or have surgery.