The bombings took place in the Saudi capital

A petition to the Saudi King Fahd for clemency has been "positively received", said the men's defence counsel.

The six have been accused by the Saudi authorities of conducting a bombing campaign as part of a row between alcohol bootlegging gangs.

I have every reason to believe that good news is in the pipeline Salah Hejailan, Britons' lawyer Timeline: Britons accused of Saudi bombings

The men's families have always claimed the charges against them were not true and say their alleged confessions were false and extracted by brutal force.

The families say the bombings in November 2000 - one of which led to the death of another Briton - were carried out by Islamic fundamentalists targeting Westerners.

'Delays'

So far the Saudi authorities have dismissed this suggestion.

Monday's suicide attacks of Western housing compounds in Saudi capital Riyadh - believed to be the work of Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network - has fuelled arguments that the six were not guilty of the bombing incidents.

The mens' lawyer Salah Hejailan told BBC Radio 4's PM programme: "All the indications that we have received over the past two weeks or so are quite positive and encouraging.

Sandy Mitchell faces a possible public beheading

"Our petition for clemency has been positively received and I have every reason to believe that good news is in the pipeline."

Asked if his clients could soon be freed, he said: "I think it will be a matter of days."

Mr Hejailan said Monday's bomb attacks had not helped the British men's bid for freedom.

'Sufficient punishment'

"What happened recently in Riyadh has delayed the process a little bit," he said.

"But I hope we will hear good news very shortly." In their petition, the men's lawyers asked King Fahd to treat the men's detention so far as sufficient punishment and to exercise clemency on the grounds of their health and family situation.

Sandy Mitchell, 44, from Kirkintilloch, north Glasgow, and William Sampson, also from Glasgow, face possible public beheading for allegedly planting a car bomb that killed Briton Christopher Rodway in November 2000.

Mr Mitchell's sister Margaret Dunn, speaking on the BBC's Frontline Scotland programme, said she felt her brother's case was not being heard and she feared he would die in jail.

Confessions were on television

The other Britons, James Cottle, from Manchester, Peter Brandon, from Cardiff, Les Walker, from the Wirral, and James Patrick Lee, are serving 12-year sentences.

Another Briton, thought to be named Glen Ballard, and a Belgian, Ralph Skevins, are also being held over the bombings.

The director of campaign group Fair Trials Abroad, Stephen Jakobi, told BBC News Online "no-one outside of Saudi" any longer believed that the Britons were guilty of planting bombs.

"Every terrorist activity in Saudi, and there has been a considerable number, demonstrates that Saudi has had a serious terror problem against Europeans for a long time," he said.