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From the article:

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack avoided directly criticizing the Saudi judiciary over the case, but said the verdict "causes a fair degree of surprise and astonishment."

"It is within the power of the Saudi government to take a look at the verdict and change it," McCormack said.

Horrid response IMO and gutless too. Meanwhile back the ranch:

US readies arms sales to Saudi, Gulf neighbours, US to give Egypt $ 13bn in weapons etc.

The Bush administration is preparing to tell Congress next month it plans to sell Saudi Arabia and its Gulf neighbours billions of dollars in advanced arms as a counterweight to Iran, Syria and militant groups. "We expect to make the formal notification of the initial sales soon," before Congress recesses next month, a State Department official said.

Saudi Arabia is expected to be the biggest buyer. The deals could be worth a combined total of $ 20bn over the years, Pentagon officials have told Congress, which has 30 days to vote to block a proposed sale from the formal notification date, but rarely does so. The pre-notification clock that
started on Tuesday lasts 20 days, meaning the formal process could start as soon as December 4 or so - leaving Congress little time to debate the issues before it recesses for the year.