After Saudi Arabia
announced on November 2 a plan to spend millions on training Syrian Salafist
rebel organizations with the help of Pakistan, many observers made the obvious
comparison with Saudi Arabia train and bankroll the mujahedin in Afghanistan
during the Soviet invasion. The irony is compounded by the fact that Saudi
Arabia’s support well counter Al Qaeda’s growing strength in Syria. Recent
reports suggest that Saudi Arabia is concerned about one aspect history
repeating itself: returning jihadis destabilizing Saudi Arabia’s security.
One major
difference in Saudi Arabia’s approach to the Afghanistan and Syrian conflicts
is the lack of a large-scale recruiting effort. Islamic charities and figures
close to the Saudi government recruited extensively for the in Afghanistan jihad,
so that participation in the jihad became a cultural phenomenon. Now, Saudi
Arabia’s Grand Mufti has ordered Saudis not to go to Syria. He insists that
Syria’s well-wishers should pray instead of sending fighters. The Saudi
government has also discouraged fundraising and other grassroots efforts on
behalf of Syria by Saudi Arabia’s Islamic charities. While Saudi Arabia
considers Syria an important front on its Cold War with Iran, they want to
prevent it from becoming the popular jihad that Afghanistan was.
Despite the lack
of overt recruiting, a few reports suggest that the Saudi Arabian government is
recruiting by other means. The Assyrian News Agency reported that Saudi Arabia
sent as many as 12,000 death row prisoners, including foreign citizens, to
fight in Syria. A leaked memo, allegedly from an Interior Ministry official,
explained that “they will be exempted from the death sentence and given a
monthly salary to their families and loved ones.” Another source of recruits
for Syria are Saudis who feel persecuted in Saudi Arabia. Reema al-Jourish,
wife of imprisoned activist Abdullah al-Hamili, announced on Twitter that his
16-year-old son Moath had arrived in Syria to fight for the rebels. She
explained: “My son has been harassed within [Saudi Arabia] for supporting
prisoners. I would not let him be taken easily by the tyrants. The land of
dignity and glory is more merciful for him.” Apparently, al-Jourish decided to send
her son to Syria after she received a call from the Interior Ministry
threatening him. It is unclear whether the Interior Ministry intended to force Moath
al-Hamili to go to Syria, but this incident illustrates the differences between
the recruiting effort for Syria and therefore Afghanistan. Similarly, Jamal
Khashoggi, a journalist for the Al Hayat newspaper cited the YouTube video of a
conversation with Saudi citizens fighting it Syria. These fighters claimed they
feared being killed if they return to Saudi Arabia after fighting in Syria.
Many analysts question
the wisdom of Saudi Arabia’s decision to train Syria’s rebels, but it is clear
that Saudi Arabia has learned one lesson from Afghanistan and is trying to
minimize the chances of a second wave of returning jihadis: ensuring that only
criminals and social outcasts volunteer for Syria, and that few if any return.
