Omar Ashour, an expert on deradicalization programs at Exeter University, thinks this approach will ultimately result in more recidivism. "The Egyptians tried something similar in the 1970s and failed," he says. "The Saudi program is not comprehensive because it doesn't address the wider issue of religious and ideological reformation. While it doesn't do that, it can only offer a temporary panacea."
It appears that as long as the Saudis fail to address the regressive literalism and intolerance of their own state religion—which fuels radical Islam around the world—they will also fail to rehabilitate true jihadis.
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