Special to WorldTribune.com

LONDON — Saudi Arabia has been sending prisoners condemned to death
to fight in the Sunni revolt against President Bashar Assad in Syria.

A memorandum by the Saudi Interior Ministry offered death row inmates a
full pardon if they agree to fight the Assad regime in Syria. The memo,
released by the Assyrian International News Agency, said the ministry made
the offer to 1,239 people, many of them foreign Arab and Muslim nationals,
sentenced to execution.

“We have reached an agreement with them that they will be exempted from the death sentence and given a monthly salary to their families and loved ones, who will be prevented from traveling outside Saudi Arabia in return for rehabilitation of the accused and their training in order to send them to jihad in Syria,” the Interior Ministry said.

The memo, dated April 17, 2012, marked the involvement of Saudi Arabia in helping the war against Assad. The memo, signed by ministry director Abdull Bin Ali Al Rumezan, said those who agreed to fight in Syria included Afghanis, Algerians, Egyptians, Iraqis, Jordanians, Kuwaitis, Pakistanis, Palestinians, Saudis, Somalis, Sudanese and Syrians.

Under the project, the released prisoners, many of them convicted of
rape, murder and drug trafficking, would be trained for combat in Saudi
Arabia. The Assyrian news agency said Iraqi and Saudi officials have
privately confirmed the project.

“We inform you that we are in dialogue with the accused criminals who
have been convicted with smuggling drugs, murder, rape, from the following
nationalities,” the memo said, “110 Yemenis, 21 Palestinians, 212 Saudis, 96
Sudanese, 254 Syrians, 82 Jordanians, 68 Somalis, 32 Afghanis, 94 Egyptians,
203 Pakistanis, 23 Iraqis and 44 Kuwaitis.”

  Bashar Assad, rapists to fight in Syrian war, Saudi Interior Ministry, Saudi memo offered pardons to death row inmates willing to fight in Syria, Sunni revolt