Two recent cases of militants in Saudi Arabia and Egypt renouncing violence and urging others to do the same.

Ahmed Al-Shayea, Saudi Arabia

The first is Ahmed Al-Shayea أحمد الشايع who drove a truck bomb in Baghdad in Christmas of 2004. He now shows his amputated fingers and disfgured face on Saudi TV channels, deploring others not to take the path that left him with these scars.

Sayid Imam El-Sharif, Egypt

The second is Sayid Imam El-Sharif سيد إمام الشريف the 57 year old ideologue for the Islamic Jihad militant group of Egypt, who was captured in Yemen and imprisoned in Egypt. A surgeon, he worked with Al-Zawahiri in the same group, and the latter has even repudated him in a recent one of his video tapes.

Will they have an impact?

Although the testimony of these two are worth reading for everyone, it is naive to consider them effective in swaying youth who have took up the militant path. They will be immediately seen as lacking credibility because they sold out to the authorities, or were brainwashed after prison and torture.

Perhaps their value would be in preventing some of those who are "on the fence" and are about to take the militant way, but have not completely decided to do so.

Resources

• Associated Press by Donna Abu-Nasr: 'Holy warrior' turns against the cause (has picture). Also on International Herald Tribune, without a picture, as Wounded and feeling cheated, a 'holy warrior' turns against the cause that lured him to Iraq,
• Guardian: Violence won't work: how author of 'jihadists' bible' stirred up a storm. Also on charter97.