25 ex-Guantanamo Saudis return to militancy after rehab

RIYADH - At least 25 former Saudi detainees from the Guantanamo Bay detention camp returned to militancy after going through a rehabilitation programme for Al Qaeda militants here in Saudi Arabia, a media report said.

Around 120 Saudis were sent back by the US from the detention camp in Cuba, out of which 25 have relapsed into violence, Dubai-based al-Arabiya reported Sunday.

Saudi Arabia had enrolled the former Guantanamo detainees along with other Al Qaeda suspects in a rehabilitation programme, which included ideological review by clerics and financial aid to help them start over again, Abdulrahman al-Hadlaq, director general of the general administration for intellectual security, was quoted as saying by Xinhua.

A few of those released have gone to Yemen and rejoined the Al Qaeda, while the rest have again been sent to jail, the top official said.