Special to WorldTribune.com

ANKARA — Turkey has begun sending home Saudi fighters in Syria.

Officials said Turkey responded to a request from Saudi Arabia and sent nationals who had been fighting the regime of President Bashar Assad in Syria.

The officials said many of the Saudi fighters had crossed the border from Syria into Turkey and were treated by the Saudi embassy in Ankara.

“We received several calls from the relatives of these Saudis,” Saudi ambassador to Turkey Adel Mirdad said. “We have informed them that the moment they arrive in Turkey we will make arrangements for their travel to the kingdom.”

The Saudi intelligence community has issued an assessment that at least 1,400 nationals were involved in the Sunni revolt in Syria. The assessment said about 250 Saudi fighters returned to the Gulf Cooperation Council kingdom over the last few months.

Earlier this month, Saudi King Abdullah enacted legislation that banned Saudis from joining foreign Islamist wars. The new law called for sentences of up to 20 years for those who fought in foreign wars without official authorization.

Officials said most of the Saudi recruits were in their late teens or
early 20s. They said Al Qaida was indoctrinating and mobilizing the Saudis
for jihad campaigns in Iraq, Lebanon and Syria.

“All of the Saudi returnees through Turkey were young men and did not
include any women,” Mirdad said. “We have clear instructions from the
highest authorities to provide Saudis abroad all care and support,
especially for those in trouble zones.”

  Adel Mirdad, Bashar Assad, King Abdullah, Saudi nationals fightings in Syria get safe passage home from Turkey