Rehabilitation

Gitmo Prisoners to Go to Saudis?

Detainees fare well there, but it's complicated.

Is Saudi Arabia the solution? Driven by a few successful prisoner rehabilitations in Saudi Arabia, the Obama administration wants to transfer more of its Yemeni prisoners to the kingdom. Although Yemen wants its prisoners to return home, the White House is reluctant to send them there for fear they'd slip back into militant networks because the Yemeni government has larger problems—insurgents, seccessionists, and a growing al Qaeda network. But Saudi Arabia is dragging its heels on the matter. It says that successful rehabilitations have only occurred in detainees with strong family ties to keep former prisoners from slipping. Plus, accepting detainees could prove a diplomatic nightmare. Yemeni detainees who slip back into al Qaeda could damage the kingdom's pride; the program would make the country a bigger target for terrorism; and Yemen, a close ally of Saudi Arabia, would probably consider the transfers an embarrassment.