RIYADH: Mothers of Saudis who volunteered to fight in Iraq and who were captured are living in misery. These mothers cannot live a normal life knowing that their sons are in Iraqi prisons. These mothers are hoping that the Saudi government would speed up efforts to bring their children back home, the daily Al-Riyadh reported recently.
“My son is a very normal boy,” said Umm Faisla Al-Onaizi. “He did not show indications that he would leave for Iraq. I did not notice any extremist thoughts. Like any man of his age, he liked computers and sports.”
She remembers the tragedy that happened to her son as if it happened yesterday. The family traveled to Syria in 2004 where it owned a farm. After spending a short period of time in Syria the family went back and ordered Faisal to stay back to look after the farm.
“We were calling him constantly until one day he switched off his cell phone. We tried to call him many more times but we could not get through to him. We asked the neighbors and they told us that he went to Iraq.
“After a long period of time, we learned that he was arrested and was sentenced to five years in prison. We received letters from him through the Red Crescent expressing his remorse and saying how he was deceived into fighting in Iraq. I call on the Saudi government to intervene. My son is still in Iraq.”
Saad Al-Harbi was 19 years old when he went to Iraq. He was a student at a teacher’s college and his behavior was not out of the ordinary, according to family members.
“Five years ago he told me that he will be going for three days with his friends to Makkah to perform Umrah. That was the last thing we heard from him. A few days later someone called us and told us that he had gone to Iraq. We were lost because we did not know what to do. A few months later, we received a call from the Interior Ministry to inform us that Saad had been arrested. A few months later we received first letter from him in which he expressed his remorse and forgiveness for what he did.”
She said that the government should do something to bring him back where he can serve his sentences here.
Another Saudi who has been in Iraq for the past five years is 29-year-old Zaid Al-Timyat, a law student. Al-Timyat’s father went to Jordan in search for a way to get in contact with someone who can help him reach his son.
However he lost his life in an accident there, leaving the mother struggling as a widow. Al-Timyat disappeared along with three other youths of his family after going to the Saudi-Iraqi border, allegedly for some business.
Zahir Al-Shihri, a 31-year-old Saudi, told his parents that he would rent a home next to his work. But about 90 days later he called his family to say that he went to Iraq on jihad and that he would not be returning.
“We were shocked as he used to be obeying his father and was kind with him, he would read Qur’an for him and take him to all places he wants to go to. The father got sick due to what Zahir did,” said the mother.
Jamal Al-Yahya, a high school student, went to Iraq when he was 19 years old. Before heading to Iraq Jamal wanted to pursue his studies and get a job and a wife. Jamal’s mother said that her son convinced her to go to Syria to consult a dentist. He then disappeared for seven months.
