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Whether or not a person can ever truly change is something Saudi Arabia's new crown prince, Mohammed bin Nayef bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has probably thought about very deeply.
As the man who ran the country's interior ministry for many years, Prince Mohammed, 55, staked much of his personal reputation on a programme that aims to rehabilitate religious militants and reintegrate them into society.
These are men who left Saudi Arabia for wars in Afghanistan, Chechnya, Bosnia, Iraq and Syria. Some of the fighters, who left home to wage this self-proclaimed "jihad", spent years at in Guantanamo Bay, before being sent back to Saudi Arabia.
Upon reaching the kingdom, some were enrolled in a deradicalisation programme championed by Prince Mohammed, the face of a new generation of Saudi leaders who rose to prominence through his work at Saudi Arabia's interior ministry. His story is inherently connected to attacks by extremists inside the kingdom and the two-pronged approach he has advocated to combat them.
Last month, he was made crown prince, the first of the grandsons of King Abdulaziz Al Saud, the founder of the modern Saudi state, expected to become king, a move that shifted the succession line to a new generation.
Today, one of his key achievements, the Mohammed bin Nayef Counseling and Care Center, has seen more than 3,000 Saudi Arabian men graduate from its programme since its establishment in 2006.
The programme has been successful in turning men away from violence. But sometimes the transition cannot happen, as Prince Mohammed knows only too well: once a militant who claimed he wanted to surrender attempted to assassinate the prince in a suicide bombing.
Change was likely on Prince Mohammed's mind when he flew to the United States this week to meet the US president Barack Obama. Gulf Cooperation Council leaders were gathered with Obama to enhance cooperation between Gulf Arab states and the US.
The GCC states also wanted assurances about a deal the US was involved in negotiating, along with other world powers, over Iran's nuclear programme. There were concerns a deal would result...