RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- Al-Qaida planned to set up an Islamic army to topple Arab regimes, including Saudi Arabia, and prepared plans that relied on the movements of the Saudi army.
The revelations were made on Saudi television Tuesday night by eight alleged al-Qaida members who received military training in Afghanistan. They spoke about the methods used by the network in recruiting its cells.
The recruits were first drawn to the conflict in Afghanistan under the pretext of receiving religious teachings, they said. Later, they were sent to military training camps after undergoing brainwashing sessions that made them hostile against their own countries and regimes.
The network mostly targeted young people between 20 and 25 who show religious enthusiasm and zeal and who have no family or employment commitments. Special focus was placed on uneducated elements.
The alleged al-Qaida members also revealed most of the arms used by the group's operations in Saudi Arabia were smuggled at the beginning of the war in Iraq from Afghanistan through Iran and Iraq.
The alleged members said they were brainwashed and fell victim to the exploitation of al-Qaida leaders in Saudi Arabia and abroad.
They said the military training they received in Afghanistan was not limited to light weapons, but also included advanced and modern arms such as surface-to-air rockets, and training consisted of using, disassembling and assembling arms.
The phase requiring the most effort on the part of the al-Qaida leaders was that of manipulating the recruits' religious beliefs. This phase could take a long time, but in some instances only a few hours. The former members cited the case of a young man who was ready to carry out a suicide bombing only a day after joining al-Qaida.
