Prince Nayef wins suit against UK daily

The Saudi Interior Minister accused by a British newspaper of ordering police to gun down unarmed demonstrators during this year's yesterday won "substantial" libel damages over the allegations. Independent Print Limited, publishers of The Independent paper, and its Middle East correspondent Robert Fisk expressed "sincere apologies" at London's High Court over claims made against Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. The newspaper said allegations that he had ordered police to fire on protesters were published "in good faith" but accepted they had turned out to be untrue and based on a forgery. On April 15, The Independent published a feature article about the Arab Spring headlined "A long time coming". In it Fisk claimed Prince Nayef had ordered police chiefs "to shoot and kill unarmed demonstrators without mercy". Rupert Earle, representing Prince Nayef, told Justice Nicola Davies that several websites had featured the statement, allegedly issued by Prince Nayef. "Both The Independent and Fisk offer their sincere apologies to Prince Nayef for the damage and distress caused by the article and the inevitable coverage it received," she added. A correction published on May 4 by The Independent said: "Prince Nayef has responded that the order is a forgery, was not issued by him and that he would never issue such an order." Prince Nayef, second in line to the throne and Interior Minister since 1970, said he would pay the undisclosed sum of money he received to charity.