Lebanon Stops Saudi Women, Kids Heading to Join IS in Syria

Saudi Arabia said Friday that three women and their seven children, including a one-year-old, had been stopped in Lebanon from entering Syria to join the Islamic State group.

The women, who are sisters, were stopped in Beirut after one of their husbands informed the Saudi authorities that his wife was heading to Syria, a Saudi interior ministry statement said.

It did not specify their nationalities or say how they managed to leave Saudi Arabia. Saudi women are generally not allowed to travel alone without permission from a male guardian.

The women and their children were all returned to the kingdom on Thursday, according to the ministry statement, which was published by the official SPA news agency.

Authorities have organized for the children's care while the women were referred to the courts, it said.

Saudi Arabia is part of the U.S.-led coalition that is fighting the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.

Saudi political and religious leaders routinely denounce IS attacks -- at home and abroad -- as violations of Islam.

However a report last year by the inter-governmental Financial Action Task Force said Saudis comprised the second-largest nationality among "foreign terrorist fighters" with IS.

The Saudi announcement marks a rare moment of cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Lebanon after months of icy relations.

In February, Saudi officials halted a $3 billion arms deal with Lebanon over the kingdom's ongoing tensions with Hizbullah and Iran.