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Saudis Fight Extremism With... Rehab?

Saudis rehabilitate terrorists using ideological approach

By Wesley Oliver, Newser Staff

Posted Nov 9, 2008 1:12 PM CST

(Newser) – Saudi Arabia has a particular brand of counter-terrorism: a cozy detention center where captured militants share their feelings, practice art therapy, snack on Twix, rumble on PlayStation, and leave with the prospect of a wife. The retreat, Katherine Zoepf writes in the New York Times magazine, is part of the kingdom’s rehabilitation program for jihadis, often age 18-36.

Saudi schools feature jihad-focused curricula in a country founded on the doctrine. But now the Saudis are adopting a decidedly softer approach, trying to “fight thoughts with thoughts,” one teacher said, and prevent militants from turning against them. Scholars disagree over whether new al-Qaeda recruits join for purely religious reasons, but many agree they leave because of fear and disillusionment.

[Images (3)]

[Quotes (3)]

If the Saudi rehabilitation program succeeds, it could reduce the ranks of dangerous extremists, achieve domestic and regional stability, and increase safety for potential targets in the West. (AP Photo)

The Saudi state was essentially built on the concept of jihad, which King Abdul Aziz al-Saud used to knit disparate tribal groups into a single nation. (AP Photo/ Anupam Nath)

Abdul Nacer Benbrika, an Algerian-born Muslim cleric, walks in his back yard in Australia in 2005 in this TV image. In September, Benbrika and followers were convicted of forming a terrorist group. (AP Photo/AuBC via APTN)

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For me, it was always more about the feeling that I wanted to help the Muslims. But jihad is complicated. If you’re heading to Afghanistan or Iraq, do you really have the facts you need to get involved on the right side? - Former jihadi

We use Western psychiatric techniques together with Islamic techniques.
- T. M. Otayan, psychologist

You have a young man who’s depressed, frustrated with life, maybe he fails an exam. He can go from being a loser, a failure, to being a jihadi, someone with status. - Saudi psychologist

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Saudis Fight Extremism With... Rehab?