A center spokesman said the released prisoners would go through a program involving followup checks to help them psychologically and socially.
He added that a number of released prisoners performed Haj last year, while two of them enrolled at Imam Muhammad bin Saud Islamic University. Three others will join an advanced computer study course at the social service center at King Saud University.
The program of rehabilitating terrorists and encouraging them to abandon their extremist views was the brainchild of Prince Muhammad bin Naif, assistant minister of interior for security affairs.
It was founded about seven years ago and staffed by more than 100 scholars and academics specializing in Islam and Shariah, in addition to more than 30 psychiatrists and social researchers providing advice to inmates.
There are at least nine such centers in various prisons in the Kingdom. The center has an annual budget of $40 million to $50 million (SR150-187.5 million). So far, more than 300 terrorist prisoners have benefited from the programs of these centers.
Many US anti-terrorist officials and nongovernmental experts in terrorism have praised the Kingdom's success in rehabilitating terror suspects. Many countries have also sought to adopt the Kingdom's experiment in order to tackle the issue of terrorism and extremism.
At least 90 percent of those who have undergone the center’s program have been successfully rehabilitated. The program advises inmates that they can stick to their beliefs without resorting to violence against those who do not agree with them.
Encouraged by the success of the program, the Interior Ministry is considering establishing five more centers.
The first phase of the voluntary program starts before prisoners have completed their jail terms.
Though it is voluntary for every prisoner to join, they are clearly told that his participation in the program does not ensure his immediate release or the commuting of his jail term.
