Saudis Freed From Guantanamo Get Generous 'Reintegration' Deal

By The Washington Post
December 10, 2007

WASHINGTON — For five years, Jumah al-Dossari sat in a tiny cell at the American prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, watched day and night by military captors who considered him one of the most dangerous terrorist suspects on the planet.

In July, he was suddenly released to his native Saudi Arabia, which held a very different view. Mr. Dossari was immediately reunited with his family and treated like a VIP. He was given a monthly stipend and a job, housed, and fed, even promised help in finding a wife. Today, he is a free man living on the Persian Gulf coast.

The treatment is part of a Saudi "reintegration program" designed to help Mr. Dossari, 34, and other former Guantanamo prisoners adjust to modern society and learn the meanings of Islam. About 40 of the more than 100 Guantanamo Bay detainees from Saudi Arabia who have been transferred to Riyadh since last year have been released after participating in the program, and the rest are scheduled to be let go in coming months.

The Defense Department considered more than 90% of the transferred detainees to be terrorist threats to America and its allies, but sent them home as part of an agreement that Saudi Arabia would mitigate the threat, according to Commander J.D. Gordon, a Pentagon spokesman.

"Our goal is to transfer out as many individuals from Guantanamo Bay as we can," the deputy assistant secretary of defense for detainee affairs, Sandra Hodgkinson, said. "The Saudis have developed a reconciliation program to address the needs of their population, and we strongly appreciate them finding a way to mitigate the threats that these people pose. We believe this is a very, very good program." Critics worry the arrangement will simply return some extremists to the streets. Saudi Arabia was the homeland of most of the September 11, 2001, terrorists, and defense officials estimate that about 30 of the nearly 480 detainees released from Guantanamo have again taken up terrorist activities.

Steven Emerson, a terrorism analyst, said the program is intriguing because it is an alternative to holding detainees at Guantanamo indefinitely. But, he said, there is a "major risk" of releasing the former detainees into the general population.

"If they are allowed to re-engage in jihad, then I think it's criminal," Mr. Emerson said. "I don't always believe the Saudis are doing what they say they are doing. Could it work? Technically, it could work. Would I trust them to become babysitters? Not on my life."