Daily Alert Archives

State Dept. Commission Calls Saudis' Strict Islam a "Threat"

(Washington Times) - Saudi Arabia continues to fund and export its Wahhabi brand of Islam, making it a "strategic threat" to the United States in the worldwide war on terror, the chairman of the State Department's Commission on International Religious Freedom said Tuesday. "It is an ideology that is incompatible with the war on terrorism," said commission chairman Michael Young. The commission, established by Congress during the Clinton administration as a State Department body charged with monitoring religious rights, held a hearing Tuesday titled: "Is Saudi Arabia a Strategic Threat: The Global Propagation of Intolerance." Members of the panel said they were pessimistic about Saudi efforts to combat extremism. "We've struck a Faustian bargain, turning a blind eye to Saudi Arabia's domestic policies...and we've turned a blind eye to Saudi Arabian efforts to export Wahhabism," said Martin Indyk, former U.S. ambassador to Israel.
2003-11-20 00:00:00
Full Article