Saudi Police Arrest 8 Suspected ’IS’ Recruiters

Local Editor

Saudi police arrested eight people in the northwest of the country suspected of recruiting young people to join the so-called "Islamic State" extremist group in Iraq and Syria, the interior ministry said on Tuesday.

The Saudi ministry said in a statement that police arrested eight people in Tamir "who deluded young people into joining foreign extremist groups."

The arrests were made as part of security operation implementing a royal decree ordering a crackdown on members and supporters of extremist groups, the statement said.

An imam and a teacher were among the people arrested, "supporters of the IS, accused of encouraging young people to go to the war zones in Syria and Iraq," the Saudi-owned pan-Arab daily al-Hayat reported.

On March 7, Saudi Arabia declared extremist groups to be "terrorist organizations" and instructed Saudis fighting in other countries to return home.
Furthermore, in February, the government said any Saudi taking part in foreign fighting and belonging to "terrorist groups" would face a prison sentence of three to 20 years.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team