Saudi Arabia has called on its citizens waging insurgency wars abroad to return back to the kingdom within 15 days or face imprisonment.<\/p>\n
The Friday ultimatum was an extension of a month-long deadline given to Saudis fighting outside the country to return home, the interior ministry said. Those failing to comply face penalties of three to 20 years in prison.<\/p>\n
The kingdom\u2019s authorities claim they want to deter Saudis from joining insurgents in Syria and posing a security risk once they return home.<\/p>\n
This is while, numerous media outlets and political analysts have accused Saudi Arabia of supporting terrorist groups in Syria since 2011.<\/p>\n
The statement, carried by official Saudi Press Agency, also designated groups such as Al-Qaeda\u2019s branches in Yemen and Iraq, the al-Nusra Front and the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) as terrorist groups.<\/p>\n
The development comes as the named terror groups are widely believed to be sponsored by elements tied to the Wahhabi monarchy in Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, Saudi state television for the first time broadcast the \u201cconfessions\u201d of an extremist who returned from Syria, as the kingdom distanced itself from radicals in the Syrian foreign-hatched conflict.<\/p>\n
Sulaiman Al-Subaie, 25, who grew popular in his homeland for his posts on video-sharing app Keek, reportedly joined in August 2013 the most radical group fighting in Syria, the ISIL.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe situation in Syria is not as portrayed in the media,\u201d Al-Subaie said in a rare interview aired on Saudi television late Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is amazing is that Saudis are killing fellow Saudis in the fighting between ISIL and Nusra Front,\u201d both al-Qaeda franchises in Syria.<\/p>\n
Al-Subaie said in his \u201cconfessions\u201d that the death of his brother, a terrorist, as well as \u201cpictures of dead Syrian children\u201d had prompted him to join the war.<\/p>\n
\u201cI went to Qatar, from where I travelled to Turkey\u201d before being led into Syria by a smuggler.<\/p>\n
He said he wanted to join the al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front but \u201cupon my arrival,” he added, “I was told that I have now become a member of ISIL,\u201d\u00a0a rival terrorist group also tied to\u00a0al-Qaeda.<\/p>\n
Al-Subaie decided to quit the group after realizing that his Twitter account, followed by thousands in Saudi Arabia, was being used to broadcast \u201cmessages inciting\u201d violence against Saudi rulers and clerics.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n