Saudi clerics to combat al-Qaeda

Saudi Arabia has mobilised some of its most militant clerics, including one Osama bin Laden sought to recruit as his spiritual guide, in a campaign to combat the continuing appeal of al-Qaeda8217;s ideology in the kingdom.

Saudi Arabia has mobilised some of its most militant clerics, including one Osama bin Laden sought to recruit as his spiritual guide, in a campaign to combat the continuing appeal of al-Qaeda8217;s ideology in the kingdom.

The effort has targeted hundreds of young Saudis whom security forces here have tracked down and arrested as sympathisers or potential recruits. They are then subjected to an intense programme of religious re-education by clerics that sometimes lasts for months. Saudi authorities say about 500 youth have completed the programme and been freed since it began in 2004. They remain under close surveillance.

8216;8216;None has been found to get re-involved in terrorism so far,8217;8217; said Lt Gen Mansour al-Turki, spokesman for the Saudi Interior Ministry, which runs the programme together with the Islamic Affairs Ministry. 8216;8216;Their ideology has changed, and they are convinced they were wrong.8217;8217;

Ministry officials denied a request to interview any of the youth. The Saudi who relayed the decision said officials worried about what they might say to a foreign reporter.

Mohsen al-Awajy, an Islamic lawyer who is known here as a former radical, was skeptical of the effect. 8216;8216;I8217;m afraid about 85 to 90 per cent of those who claim they are changing their minds as a result of this dialogue might not be truthful,8217;8217; he said. Turki conceded that Saudi authorities were having great difficulty curbing the appeal of al-Qaeda8217;s ideology among young people, who he said are incited by 8216;8216;the daily killings in Iraq8217;8217; and a constant barrage of appeals to holy war on Internet sites run by Islamic extremists. Hundreds have crossed into Iraq to join the insurgency there. 8216;8216;As long as the ideology is alive,8217;8217; Turki said, 8216;8216;we cannot guarantee no new terrorists will come along.8217;8217;

Abdel Mohsen al-Obeikan, a former militant cleric now playing a prominent part in the re-education programme, compared the challenge to the war on drugs in the United States. 8216;8216;You cannot stop drugs, either,8217;8217; he said. As soon as one terrorist group is eliminated, he said, another pops up that is even more dangerous: 8216;8216;We need a long time. We should be patient.8217;8217;

Still, Saudi authorities argue they have made real progress in uprooting al-Qaeda inside the kingdom and part of the reason is their efforts with the young people. But a foiled attack on February 24 against the world8217;s largest oil terminal at Abqaiq sobered US and Saudi officials. 8216;8216;Abqaiq shows the problem is not over,8217;8217; said US Ambassador James Oberwetter in an interview here.

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By bringing into the programme well-known Wahabi radicals,who in the past have denounced the Saudi government for its close association with the United States, Saudi officials hope to add its credibility with young people. With its control of the finances of Islam in the kingdom, the government can bring pressure by threatening to close the mosques of individual clerics or withdraw their funding.

David B. Ottaway