Saudis claim 80% success in re-educating al-Qaida militants

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

Saudis claim 80% success in re-educating al-Qaida militants


· Programme finds jobs and wives for former jihadists
· Anti-extremist schemes in schools and mosques

Ian Black in Riyadh
Monday April 2, 2007
The Guardian

Saudi Arabia claims to be winning its domestic "war on terror" with the help
of a programme of re-education and rehabilitation for hundreds of repentant
al-Qaida militants once led by Osama bin Laden.

Officials in Riyadh say they have seen an 80-90% success rate in a "counter-
radicalisation" campaign designed to wean extremists detained by the security
forces off the "takfiri" ideology that permits the killing of fellow Muslims and
motivates Saudis involved in jihad in Iraq and Afghanistan. Some 140 members
of al-Qaida in the Arabian peninsula have died in clashes with security
forces since attacks began in May 2003.

-snip-

Prisoners undergo social and psychological profiling, take part in 10-week
courses and are helped to find jobs and even wives as part of intensive after-
care support that includes cash handouts for their families. Some refuse to
participate. "But we don't force them," Gen Turki said.

The more inveterate detainees will face trials, but no major cases have yet
been launched and there seems to be no hurry to start, diplomats say,
underlining the sensitivity of the issue in this deeply conservative country,
home to 15 of the 19 9/11 hijackers. The death penalty will probably be
imposed in some cases, with public beheadings in central Riyadh.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/saudi/story/0,,2048118,00.html

[The_Casual_Observer]

1. "cash handouts for their families."

That was the first thing I looked for in this program, they put it down the list. It's really what it's all about.