IS failed to recruit Saudis in large numbers: Report

The Saudi Arabian government has said that the radical Islamic State (IS) group has largely failed to directly recruit Saudi citizens.

According to a report released by the Al-Sakinah Campaign for Dialogue, an initiative of the Gulf nation's ministry of Islamic affairs, endowments, call and guidance, the number of Saudis who have joined the IS does not exceed 2000, Arab News reported Monday.

A report by the campaign titled "Did we actually succeed in our intellectual programmes?" has disclosed that the IS members who carried out the Dalwa massacre in Al-Ahsa in the Eastern Province in first week of November "were geographically isolated and non-uniformed".

The report confirmed that the central administration of the IS outside Saudi Arabia does not trust its leaders inside the country, arguing that such leaders were incapable of implementing "major and quality operations."

The report said the online communication with the central administration of the IS played a key role in directing, defining and timing the targets, adding that IS central leaders have negative attitudes toward some nationalities, including Saudis.

It noted that Saudis and other nationals are subjected to numerous intense tests before being taken into the group, such as asking them to undertake suicide operations. If they refused, they were classified as intelligence members or hypocrites.

The report described the IS as racial, while Al Qaeda tried to combine and mix all nationalities. The report also stressed the need for a strong and qualitative move to invest in the fight against terrorism inside the country.