Saudi Arabia facing homegrown terrorism

Saudi Arabia recently released a list of 85 of its most-wanted terrorists. Eighty-three of the individuals are Saudi nationals, the other two are Yemenis. These individuals are suspected of wanting to revive Al Qaeda in Saudi Arabia, attack oil facilities inside the kingdom and overthrow the monarchy.

Because of the pedigree of the suspects, the Saudi regime is taking this threat very seriously. Of the 85, 14 were previously detained at Guantanamo Bay and have undergone the Saudi rehabilitation program for jihadists.

This program that was trumpeted by Saudi authorities as extremely successful is obviously now showing its limits. Indeed rehabilitating hard-core jihadists is a huge challenge, especially when these individuals have been brainwashed since youth.

The Saudi regime has at this point a lot of introspection to do since its education system is at fault along with the hyper-present extremist and intolerant Wahhabism. It is no coincidence that among foreign jihadists in Iraq fighting coalition troops, the Saudis were the largest group.

Most of these jihadists were between 18 and 25 and upon their deaths, preachers would visit their families in Saudi Arabia to underline the virtues of jihad and to confirm their son's martyrdom and his place in paradise.

The role of the Saudi education system in radicalizing its youth is not a secret. Two weeks ago, the Saudi Al Watan published a column entitled: "Who is behind the deviants?"

"Deviant" is the word used in Saudi Arabia to describe terrorists. In this column, the author clearly placed the blame on the education system that teaches youngsters to memorize the Koran but not to learn much in other disciplines.

He also noted that radical preachers have the upper hand throughout the kingdom and pollute the minds of the youth with extremist ideas.

The situation has been so dire that it appears now after 30 years that Saudi authorities are realizing the hugeness of the problem. The tipping point was clearly the fact that some of Saudis who joined Al Qaeda are very determined to overthrow the monarchy.

That is why, for instance, Saudi Deputy Minister of Education and Teaching for boys (coeducation is forbidden in Arabia), Mohammed Said Maliss, ordered the removal of certain radical and extremist books from school libraries and education centers.

Among these books is one about Sayyed Qutb, one of the most influential Islamist thinkers who serves as a reference to Al-Qaeda and other Islamist terrorist groups. Another book now banned clearly calls for Jihad, in the name of Islam.

The second step taken by the regime was the Feb. 14 reshuffling of the government. Most importantl was the replacement of the hardcore Wahhabi Education Minister Abdullah Bin Saleh al-Obaid by prince Faisal bin Abdullah, who is viewed as more moderate.

Time will tell if the new education minister will really reform the system and get rid once and for all of the extremist views that permeates the school curriculum.  Faisal will have at his disposal huge amount of funds since the education minister gets about one-fourth of the Saudi government's annual budget.

The recent moves by the regime are little tiny steps to tackle the problem of extremism in the kingdom. It might be way too little too late because so many mostly young men have been poisoned by radical ideas.

Interestingly enough, Riyadh never listened when the West pointed out the risks of playing fire. But now that the threat is against the regime, they seem to be more attentive.

Olivier Guitta is an adjunct fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies.