US Eyes Saudi Rehab for Yemeni Detainees

But Saudi Arabia not jumping at the chance to take in Guantanamo detainees

By Kevin Spak, Newser Staff

Posted Oct 14, 2009 9:53 AM CDT

(Newser) – When a Saudi Arabian returns home from Guantanamo Bay, a top Saudi prince personally informs their families—then asks them to sign guarantees that he will not return to terrorism. It’s part of Saudi Arabia’s highly effective extremist rehabilitation program, which has so far graduated 108 detainees. Now, the US is all but begging the Saudis to try their techniques on the 97 Yemenis still locked up in Guantanamo. But the Saudis are skeptical that the success will transfer.

“If I try to do something bad, my family will tell the government,” says one program graduate. “How can you trust that will happen with a family in Yemen?” In taking its citizens, the Saudis risk damaging its close ties with the country; if the Yemenis enter rehab only to rejoin al-Qaeda, it would be a potentially dangerous embarrassment for the Saudis. "It's a no-win situation," says an analyst. Still, Saudi Arabia remains the most likely destination for the detainees, and has publicly said it’ll take them if they come willingly.

[Images (3)]

[Quotes (2)]

A Guantanamo detainee, center left in white, jogs around the exercise area at the medium security portion of Camp Delta detention facility, at the Guantanamo Bay US Naval Base, Cuba, Sept. 21, 2006. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

Yemeni Guantanamo detainee Ahmed al-Darbi is seen at Camp 4 of the detention center. Prosecutors allege that he has met with Osama bin Laden and trained at a terrorist camp. (AP Photo)

Barack Obama walks with Saudi King Abdullah as he arrives in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, June 3, 2009. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

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It's a no-win situation for the Saudis. They can't rehabilitate these guys, and they don't want to become America's jailor. - Christopher Boucek, an analyst with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

We will have a Riyadh-namo. We will become a target of al-Qaeda. Saudis will be seen as continuing what the Americans are doing. - Hameed al-Shaygi, sociologist at the rehabilitation center

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US Eyes Saudi Rehab for Yemeni Detainees