THE two British nurses imprisoned in Saudi Arabia for their role in the murder of a colleague have been pardoned by King Fahd and could be home within days, embassy officials from the kingdom said last night.
Lucille McLauchlan, 32, from Dundee, and Deborah Parry, 39, from Alton, Hampshire, were jailed two years ago for killing Australian nurse Yvonne Gilford in a hospital in Dhahran.
Saudi ambassador Dr Ghazi Algosaibi said their sentences had been commuted to the period they have already spent in jail.
It was possible for the country's ruler to reduce the sentence because Ms Gilford's brother, Mr Frank Gilford, accepted #750,000 blood money for her death.
It is not clear if pressure by Prime Minister Tony Blair during a visit to the kingdom last month helped, though the diplomatic efforts of Foreign Office officials have been praised.
A spokeswoman for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said last night: ''We can confirm that the two British nurses held in Saudi Arabia will be released within the next few days. This will be a great relief for them and their families. We are grateful for His Majesty King Fahd's decision to grant clemency.''
The move was given a cautious welcome by the nurses' lawyers. But members of Miss McLauchlan's family said there had been ''false alarms'' in the past. Brother John McLauchlan said: ''At the moment we are just really waiting to hear officially. Before that we don't want to say anything.''
Miss McLauchlan faces some uncertainty on her return home. It has been reported she could face prosecution for theft from a patient when she worked in Scotland, although it is possible the authorities will not proceed because of the unusual circumstances surrounding her case.
Mr Jonathan Ashbee, brother-in-law of Deborah Parry, said: ''We are trying desperately to get in touch with the lawyers in Saudi Arabia to get it confirmed.''
Downing Street said last night in a statement: ''This will be seen as a generous humanitarian act by the king. The Prime Minister is obviously grateful that the king has made this gesture.''
Mr Blair is likely to be asked directly about the nurses by MPs today during Prime Minister's Question Time.
Dr Algosaibi's statement said: ''In response to a petition from the families of the two British nurses convicted of murder in Saudi Arabia, the custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Fahd bin Abdul Aziz, issued an order commuting the sentence of the two nurses to the period they have already spent in jail and ordering their release.
''According to the judicial laws of Saudi Arabia when the next of kin in a murder case waives the right to retribution, the court can impose a discretionary jail sentence which the king can commute. This is what happened in this case. I expect the two nurses to be back in the UK in the next couple of days.''
The Saudi authorities said the nurses had confessed to the crime and admitted to having been involved in a lesbian relationship with Miss Gilford. The women later claimed the confessions were made under duress.
Miss McLauchlan was eventually found guilty of being an accessory to murder and sentenced to eight years in jail and 500 lashes.
Miss Parry's sentence had not been pronounced, though it had been feared she would face the death penalty.
Miss McLauchlan's husband, Grant Ferrie, along with other relatives, wrote to King Fahd earlier this year appealing to him to pardon the two on humanitarian grounds.
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