Saudis offer pioneering therapy for ex-jihadists

[nhboy]

"Tomorrow a young man in traditional white robe and headdress will walk out through the iron gates of an anonymous low-rise compound down a gravel lane behind a Lebanese restaurant, 30 minutes' drive from the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh.

Ali Saeed al-Ghatani, 17, will head home to the resort town of Abha - four months after he was arrested making an attempt to join Iraqi militants fighting American forces. His incarceration may have been brief, but it will have been long enough for him to realise he had 'taken the wrong path'. 'I was angry and I was seeking adventure,' he said. 'Now all I want is to study and get married.'

In a few weeks or so it should be the turn of Hizam al-Ghatani to walk through the gates. Hizam, who has spent three years in prison and three months in the compound, went much further than Saeed, spending months fighting American forces near the Iraqi town of Falluja. Yet he too now insists he is reformed. 'I am a very emotional man and I did not have a good understanding of Islam,' he said. 'Now I realise the wrong I did to my country and my family.'

Saudis offer pioneering therapy for ex-jihadists | World news | The Observer

 

[Lenny]

"Tomorrow a young man in traditional white robe and headdress will walk out through the iron gates of an anonymous low-rise compound down a gravel lane behind a Lebanese restaurant, 30 minutes' drive from the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh.

Ali Saeed al-Ghatani, 17, will head home to the resort town of Abha - four months after he was arrested making an attempt to join Iraqi militants fighting American forces. His incarceration may have been brief, but it will have been long enough for him to realise he had 'taken the wrong path'. 'I was angry and I was seeking adventure,' he said. 'Now all I want is to study and get married.'

In a few weeks or so it should be the turn of Hizam al-Ghatani to walk through the gates. Hizam, who has spent three years in prison and three months in the compound, went much further than Saeed, spending months fighting American forces near the Iraqi town of Falluja. Yet he too now insists he is reformed. 'I am a very emotional man and I did not have a good understanding of Islam,' he said. 'Now I realise the wrong I did to my country and my family.'

Saudis offer pioneering therapy for ex-jihadists | World news | The Observer

Hope the Saudis got DNA samples before they released 'em. It'll help identify their reemains when a JDAM blows them to pink air in a few weeks when they attack coalition forces in Iraq or Afghanistan.