Rehab for Saudi radicals

Inside this small classroom, some 15 young men, most of whom sport long beards, take their seats. This cleric talks about today’s subject: jihad. Is the aim of jihad to kill or corrupt people? Most of these students just completed prison sentences, most for planning to go to Iraq to fight Jihad, now a crime in Saudi Arabia. One student says it’s to fight injustice, another says it’s to spread knowledge. They continue such a debate. These students are the latest batch of detainees to enter this rehab center, run by the Saudi Interior Ministry. Its goal is to reform militants who adhere to Al Qaeda esque ideologies. This Sheikh says he’s trying to present the true, modern form of Islam and his biggest task is correcting their view of non-Muslims. This counselor says the rehab center tries to open the men’s minds to new beliefs. For roughly two months, the detainees live in a camp-live environment and take classes, including therapy and history and play soccer and ping pong. This detainee says this is a nice change of prison. The man returned after five months in Iraq, discouraged by divisions in the insurgency and then served three and a half years in prison before coming here. Detainees like him are closely monitored and eventually, it’s determined whether a detainee can be released. Even once they leave, the Ministry keeps an eye on the detainees, sometimes helping them find jobs. The Ministry claims a high success rate, with nearly 200 graduates and no returnees. Now the government is planning more rehab centers in other cities to counter the homegrown terrorist ideology. This journalist says the government hasn’t done enough to cripple the terrorist ideology and several thousand Saudis still join the Iraqi insurgency every year. Under pressure from the US, the Saudi government reformed its educational textbooks after 9/11 and removed some of the more inflammatory passages. But critics believe the state should do more to promote acceptance. This religious expert says there needs to be a public debate on the matter. But the Saudi Royal Family is reluctant to do so because the religious establishment helps prop up the monarchy.