JEDDAH, 24 November 2005 — About 85 percent of terror suspects detained in the Kingdom are in the age group of 18 to 25, according to Muhammad Al-Nujaimi, a faculty member of King Fahd Security Academy in Riyadh. He pointed out that 90 percent of these young people lacked proper understanding of Islam.

Security authorities have arrested nearly 600 people suspected of involvement in a series of bombings and shootings in the country since May 2003. They included clerics who issued edicts backing terrorist operations.

Speaking about the ministry’s counseling program to bring the “deviants” back to the right path, Saud Al-Musaibeeh, director of public relations at the Interior Ministry, said more than 100 scholars and 30 psychologists were involved in the program.

In a recent statement, Interior Minister Prince Naif said the program was instrumental in changing the mind of several detainees.

“Experts realized that the counseling program has been effective in changing the mindset of the detainees and observed improvement in their behavior, desire to accept advice and return to the right path,” the prince said.

The ministry started its counseling program about two years ago, Musaibeeh said, adding that it was the brainchild of Prince Muhammad ibn Naif, assistant interior minister for security affairs.

Dr. Ali Al-Nafeesa, director of the department for awareness and guidance programs at the ministry, said most of the terror suspects were brainwashed by their leaders and were not ready to listen to advice from other people.

“The counseling sessions are held on a daily basis to remove misconceptions and convince the deviants that the ideology they follow is wrong,” Al-Watan Arabic daily quoted Al-Nafeesa as saying.

The program includes five-week special courses with university professors giving lectures on various topics to groups of detainees to be followed by examinations and distribution of certificates, he said.

Citing assurances given by Prince Naif, Musaibeeh said deviants who confess and express their readiness to return to the right path would be released. However, he emphasized that this amnesty would not cover those who have actually taken part in terrorist operations.

Musaibeeh called upon all people, especially families, to cooperate with the Interior Ministry in its efforts to combat destructive ideologies.