That the Saudi program to rehabilitate former extremists has had a loud failure doesn’t mean that the program itself is a failure. Writing in Asharq Alawsat, Tariq Alhomayed argues that the program, known by the Arabic name Munasaha needs constant re-evaluation and ‘tweaking’. There are sufficient success in the program to keep it running. He thinks that part of the reason for the media exposure of two Saudi former detainees was an attempt by Al-Qaeda to discredit a program that was succeeding in re-integrating youths into Saudi society as it pulled them away from terrorism.

Will Saudi Arabia Abandon the Munasaha Program?
Tariq Alhomayed

The answer is certainly no; the return of a limited number of individuals who completed the Saudi government-sponsored Muasaha [Advisory Committee] rehabilitation program to the Al Qaeda organization does not signify the failure of this program, or the need for its closure, rather it signifies the need for its continued evaluation, its assessment on a regular basis, and its continuance.

What we have seen with the announcement of two men [Abu Sufyan Al Azdi Al Shahri and Abu Al-Hareth Muhammad al-Oufi] who had both completed the Saudi-sponsored Munasaha program, joining a new terrorist group which was announced in Yemen [Al Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula] is nothing more than a propaganda war aimed at attacking the Munasaha program, in order to make it seem like it failed. This is the goal of Al Qaeda and its leadership, because the rehabilitation of former Al Qaeda members or of those who were influenced by its ideology represents a knockout blow to the organization and those who want to return the media impetus to the movement, or those who are seeking to attract new members to it.

The greatest threat to the Al Qaeda organization does not come from armed conflict, but from ideological confrontation which exposes the movement and its leadership, as well as social rehabilitation, which does not shut the door on those innocent of committing acts of violence.
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Talking about failures of the program isn’t all that’s necessary, of course. Arab News reports that the government has been keeping tabs on at least some of the ‘graduates’ of the program. Nine have been re-arrested.

Kingdom re-arrests ex-Gitmo inmates
M. Ghazanfar Ali Khan I Arab News

RIYADH: As part of efforts to stop former Saudi detainees at Guantanamo rejoining militant groups such as Al-Qaeda, the authorities have rearrested nine men, including former inmates of the US detention center in Cuba.

“An official statement has already been issued about the arrests,” said Lt. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki, spokesman for the Ministry of Interior. He added that citizens and residents who violate the Kingdom’s laws would be arrested.

The Ministry of Interior said the nine Saudi nationals had undergone a rehabilitation program and some of them were returnees from Guantanamo. Their arrests follow reports that a former Saudi detainee has rejoined Al-Qaeda as a key office bearer.
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Arab News also discusses, in an editorial, complaints that ‘graduates’ of the program are not electronically monitored afterward. It argues that because some/many of the Guantanamo detainees were actually innocent—they were simply at the wrong place at the wrong time and got swept up by US forces—it would be unjust to ‘tag’ them and follow them around. Perhaps that’s so.

Editorials: Rehabilitating terror suspects

Meanwhile, the US government is defending its own program of repatriating detainees from Guantanamo. It acknowledges that the Saudi program is not perfect, but that it appears to be working well. Twenty-two Saudi remain in Guantanamo.

U.S. Defends Transfers as Ex-Detainees Vow Terror