DEPUTY MOI TO SENATOR NELSON:THE KEY TO WINNING

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 RIYADH 009179

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/25/2026
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SUBJECT: DEPUTY MOI TO SENATOR NELSON:THE KEY TO WINNING
WAR ON TERROR IS DEFEATING EXTREMIST IDEOLOGY

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Classified By: Charge D'Affaires Michael Gfoeller for reasons 1.4 (b) a
nd (d).


1. (S) SUMMARY. Deputy Minister of Interior Mohamed bin Naif
told Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) that the key to winning the
war on terror is defeating the terrorists' ideology. He
echoed the senator's other interlocutors in supporting Iraqi
unity and the SAG's noninterference policy. The Deputy
Minister outlined the SAG's re-education program, which
focuses on realigning the beliefs of extremists and ensuring
their families are adequately supported. He described the
Internet as the "new madrasas" (religious schools) and
emphasized that teachers, not textbooks, are the main problem
with Saudi schools. Mohamed warned that if the Iranians
achieve nuclear weapons capability, "they will use it." END
SUMMARY.


2. (S) During his December 17 meeting with Deputy Minister of
Interior Mohamed bin Naif, Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL)
expressed his appreciation for MoI's cooperation with U.S.
intelligence agencies and asked what more could be done to
engage Iraq's Sunni leadership to gain their support for the
unity government. The Deputy Minister noted that the
extremists are damaging what "we most believe in -- our
religion." Terrorists are using this, he said, to justify
their actions. We must, he insisted, "defeat the ideology,"
in addition to focusing on this problem from a security
perspective. Just as important, said Mohamed, Saudi Arabia
and the U.S. must work together as one team. He lauded Iraqi
Prime Minister Al Maliki's recent call for former members of
the security services to rejoin these forces, emphasizing
Saudi support for Iraqi unity and noninterference in internal
affairs. (NOTE: This message was a consistent theme in all of
Senator Nelson's meetings. Each of his interlocutors
emphasized that the Saudis would not support the Sunnis to
the exclusion of other groups and would not interfere in
Iraq's internal affairs. END NOTE.)


3. (S) In response to Senator Nelson's question as "how to
best control Al-Qaeda," Mohamed simply said, "We do not
presume to control Al-Qaeda." "As soon as we adopt that
mindset," he explained, "we are losing." Saudi Arabia must
always be on the alert, he insisted, and the government
counts on the public to be aware and reject these people. He
recounted the shock people felt when the Grand Mosque in
Makkah was seized 27 years ago, as well as how the populace
subsequently relaxed. "We cannot do this again," he stated
simply. The public may not always agree with the government,
he said, but all agree the security of the Kingdom must be
ensured.


4. (S) He emphasized the key role the family plays in the
SAG's efforts to combat terrorism, saying they need to know
what signs to look for in their sons and daughters. As an
example of this focus, Mohamed explained how the SAG extends
condolences to families of suicide bombers and compensates
them. Either the bombers will be seen as heroes to be
emulated or victims, he said, "and we prefer that they be
considered victims." If the SAG does not take care of the
families, said the Deputy Minister, someone else will -- and
"we want to be the hero."


5. (S) Mohamed briefly outlined the SAG's re-education
program (septel),noting that it was created after the
Egyptian model. Clerics and psychologists meet with
detainees to help "reshape" their beliefs, which, according
to the Deputy Minister, is working. He described how in
2003, extremists were all over the Internet claiming that the
government was torturing detainees. Recognizing that many
people would not believe the government if it simply denied
the accusations, the SAG asked credible clerics to visit
detainees. Subsequently, the clerics -- without any
prompting -- spoke publicly and privately with family members
about what they had learned. Gradually, word spread about
actual prison conditions.


6. (S) The Saudis are currently building five new detention

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facilities for terrorists and extremists, said Mohamed, where
detainees will be housed according to the degree of danger
they represent, so as to avoid co-locating, for example,
young, impressionable prisoners with hard-core extremists.
Those who are "fixable," he said, are allowed to return to
their homes after they go to court. After serving their
terms, the receive assistance in finding jobs, are monitored,
and encouraged to resume a normal life.


7. (S) When the SAG detains individuals, including those
described as "hard-liners," it first arranges a meeting with
the family. "We want to change him from wanting to die to
wanting to live," said the Deputy Minister, outlining the
tremendous impact the family often makes on these
individuals. Next, clerics are brought in who can discuss
with authority the individual's religious beliefs, which he
said must be "shaken up." Mohamed pointed to the return of
those detainees who had been released for Ramadan as an
indicator of success. He said that all but one returned at
the appointed time, and the one individual who was late (only
by several hours) had been in a traffic accident that
resulted in hospitalization. Charge D'Affaires noted that
the return of all these individuals was a key factor in the
recent release to the Saudis of 16 additional Guantanamo Bay
detainees, whom the Deputy Minister described as being in
Afghanistan for a reason -- not just incidental players.


8. (S) The Deputy Minister indicated that the SAG's strategy
for combating terrorism came about following the emergence of
such tactics as suicide bombing. He said the SAG previously
had been able to keep them "on the run," but Iranian
influence, the information readily available on the Internet,
and Al-Qaeda's gradual morphing to smaller, more operational
cells have made it increasingly difficult to prevent
incidents. "This," he insisted, "is why we must focus on
combating the ideology."


9. (S) The Deputy Minister said the role of "madrasas"
(Islamic schools) in fomenting extremist thinking has been
exaggerated by the media. He admitted that Saudi textbooks
need to be updated, but identified the real problem as the
teachers. Even the best textbooks, he said, cannot prevent a
teacher from instilling in students radical ideologies. He
described the Internet as the "new madrasas," calling it a
"virus" and stressing that families need to pay close
attention to what their children are doing on-line.


10. (S) Mohamed continued that "bad clerics should not be
clerics," but said MoI should not attempt to change their
orientation. That is the job of other clerics, he insisted.
Saudi Arabia has a committee of clerics, whom Mohamed
described as "good ones," that counters with citations from
the Qu'ran any statements made by the religious community the
committee deems as unsound. The Deputy Minister added that
"no one will win this war alone," repeating again that the
key to success is defeating radical ideology.


11. (S) Finally, Mohamed noted that if Iran were to achieve
nuclear weapons capabilities, the Saudis would find a way to
deal with it. However, he warned, "if they have it, they
will use it." "We need to keep them on the run," he
insisted, "so they do not have the opportunity to develop
such capacity."


12. (U) CODEL Nelson has not reviewed this message.

GFOELLER