This report is an update for two Jihad Watch postings. One from November 2003 and the other from February 2005. It also explodes the myth of one becoming “rehabilitated” from the Qur’anic call to jihad. From The Telegraph, :
A pioneering scheme to fight Islamist terror by encouraging jailed extremists to rethink their grasp of the Koran is under fire after claims that some of its “converts” have taken up arms again.
The project, launched in Yemen three years ago by an Islamic scholar, Judge Hamoud al-Hitar, has been followed closely by the British Government, which has twice invited him to lecture senior anti-terrorism officials at Scotland Yard.
The effectiveness of his technique – a theological “duel” in which he and the prisoners quote Koranic texts at each other – is in doubt, however, after reports that some al-Qaeda militants freed under the scheme have been caught fighting coalition forces in Iraq.
Among those released is the former chief bodyguard of Osama bin Laden, Nasser Al-Bahri, who has admitted that his sessions with Judge al-Hitar did nothing to diminish his belief in the leader of al-Qaeda. Instead, he suggested that many militants simply pretended to repent to gain quick release from jail.
One has to wonder how this “pioneering scheme,” now proven to be a complete failure, gained so much acceptance and favor from the worldwide press?
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