#3 Actually, the Saudis have an interesting take on this. Most of the militants are pretty ignorant, and are impressed by high-ranking Imams. So when they capture a militant, he gets an extended series of meetings with a non-militant senior Imam, who tries to persuade him of the error of his ways.
If they are true fanatics, they will insist on violence, so it's off to prison. But if they are open to persuasion, and they haven't done anything illegal yet, the Saudis give them a second chance to behave.
Unfortunately, they don't publish recidivism rates, so no idea if it works. I suspect that it might, since a lot of these bucks fell under the influence of some young, radical cleric, and once they are separated from him their programming rapidly wears off. Especially under the influence of someone they respect.
The naivete of young men is well known to the recruiting sergeant around the world. Were they not so dense, there would have been a lot fewer wars. |
Saudi Arabia has detained 139 suspected Islamist militants including a would-be suicide bomber, Al Arabiya television said on Saturday. The militants were not Saudi nationals and included leaders of several cells, it said, citing a Saudi Interior Ministry statement. Saudi authorities have been seizing dozens of al Qaeda members or sympathisers around the country for months. Arabiya said the suspected suicide bomber was captured with the equipment to carry out a large attack but gave no more details about the plot.