DHAKA: Two Saudi detainees sent home from the US detention centre at Guantanamo Bay will go through the kingdom’s rehabilitation program for militants.

Saudi interior ministry said on Tuesday, reports TDS.

Muhammad Husayn Qahtani and Hamood Abdulla Hamood were repatriated to Saudi Arabia on Monday after spending 11 years in Guantanamo, Cuba, without being charged with any crime.

They were both captured in Pakistan in 2002 and US military documents allege they fought alongside the Taliban in Afghanistan and were working for al Qaeda.

‘They will be subjected to the regulations in force in the kingdom, which include benefiting from the counselling and care programs,’ interior ministry spokesman Major-General Mansour Turki was quoted as saying by the official Saudi Press Agency.

Saudi Arabia’s programme to reintegrate former Islamist militants features art and sports classes, religious instruction and psychological analysis aimed at pushing them away from interpretations of Islam that favour political violence.

BDST: 2000 HRS, DEC 17, 2013
Edited by Robab Rosan, Current Affairs Editor