Saudi Arabia to build luxurious spa centers for Al-Qaeda militants

The Prince Mohammed bin Nayef Center for Counseling and Care has set up a plan to build a rehabilitation center in Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh in order to end religious extremism of jailed al-Qaeda militants by offering counseling, spa treatments and physical exercise.             

The center’s program includes counseling sessions where the militant prisoners will hold talks on religion, as well as access to the center’s facilities such as an Olympic-size indoor swimming pool, a sauna, a gym and a television hall, “in order for them to relax”.             

The center is designed to accommodate 228 prisoners and spreads over an area equal to around 10 football fields.               

This facility in Riyadh is the first to offer the prisoners a taste of luxury as a motivation to moderate their religious beliefs.             

A spokesman for the Saudi Interior Ministry told Agence France Press (AFP) that under 3,000 Islamist prisoners will have to go through this center before they can be released.        

A similar center has already opened in the western port city of Jeddah, while three additional ones are set to open in the north, east and south of the kingdom.