Saudi Effort Draws on Radical Clerics to Combat Lure of Al-Qaeda
David B. Ottaway

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Saudi Arabia has mobilized 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-Qaeda’s ideology in the kingdom.

The effort has targeted hundreds of young Saudis whom security forces here have tracked down and arrested as sympathizers or potential recruits. They are then subjected to an intense program of religious reeducation by clerics that sometimes lasts for months.

The Washington Post has a good article looking at Saudi efforts to turn Islamist militants away from terrorism by instructing them on what Islam–including Wahhabi interpretations of Islam–are really about. David Ottoway is a good reporter, with deep experience in the Middle East (I first met him when we were both in Cairo, in the early ’80s).

In this piece, he talks with a number of Saudis, including the former militant Abdul Mohsen Al-Okeiban, whom I’ve cited recently. They talk about not only re-education programs, but also Saudi governmental efforts to play an active role in Internet discussions. Whether or not these lead to actual “conversions” is debatable, as other Saudis note:

Whether Saudi youth are listening is far from clear. Awajy, the onetime radical lawyer, estimated the influence of clerics such as Obeikan as “insignificant.”

Toby Jones, who has written several reports on Saudi politics for the Brussels-based research and advocacy organization the International Crisis Group, said that Obeikan has solid religious credentials. “When he speaks, even the radicals listen,” he said. Jones said he doubted, however, that the cleric was changing many minds among those “leaning toward jihad or at least supporting jihadism.” He noted that the Islamic jurist has been pilloried regularly by Islamic militants in satirical Internet postings.

Toby Jones, who was hosted by my office in Riyadh as a Fulbright Scholar in 2002-03, writes about Saudi Arabia and often comments here at Crossroads Arabia. While we don’t necessarily see eye-to-eye on all points, I deeply respect his opinions.