Senate Committee Praises Saudi Efforts to Rehabilitate Combatants

WASHINGTON, July 9 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was
commended in testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee for the
government's effective efforts to rehabilitate and deradicalize
recently-released Guantanamo Bay detainees. The comments came during a
Committee hearing on July 7. Under the direction of the Minister of Interior,
Saudi Arabia has institutionalized a comprehensive rehabilitation program to
prepare former detainees for reintegration into the society.

"It is absolutely essential that when we transfer these people to foreign
countries that we do so under conditions that ensure safety. And the
rehabilitation program that the Saudis have is an excellent program, from what
I understand," testified Assistant Attorney General for National Security at
the Department of Justice, David S. Kris.

General Counsel of the Department of Defense, Jeh C. Johnson echoed this
sentiment. In response to a question from Senator Kay Hagan (D-NC), Johnson
stated: "The safety of the American people is the utmost concern, so we
believe strongly that rehabilitation programs like the one you referred to are
something that we should encourage, promote and it is something that we are
very focused on."

Saudi Arabia is committed to developing, implementing and refining innovative
and effective ways to combat terrorism and extremism both reactively and
proactively. The Kingdom understands the importance of combating extremism
globally as well as locally and has worked with its international partners to
coordinate activities, including the rehabilitation of former detainees.

This is distributed by Qorvis Communications, LLC on behalf of the Royal
Embassy of Saudi Arabia. Additional information is available at the
Department of Justice, Washington, DC.

SOURCE Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia

Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia Information Office, Washington, DC,
press@saudiembassy.net