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7
of 8
DOCUMENTSCopyright 2003
The
Washington Post
The
Washington PostDecember7,2003 SundayFinal Edition
SECTION:
A
Section;
A01
LENGTH:
842
words
HEADLINE:
U.S. Revokes Visa
of
Cleric
at
Saudi Embassy;Monarchy
to No
Longer
Be
Islamic Institute's Sponsor
BYLINE:
Susan Schmidt
and Caryle
Murphy, Washington Post Staff Writers
BODY:
U.S.
authorities have revoked the diplomatic visa of an influential Islamic cleric, and the Saudi government hasdecided it will no longer sponsor an Islamic institute in Virginia where he sometimes lectured, moves that
reflect
bothnations' increasing
efforts
to
curb
the
spread
of
extremist Islamic rhetoric, according
to
U.S.
and
Saudi
officials.Jaafar
Idris,
who was
affiliated with
the
Fairfax-based Institute
for
Islamic
and
Arabic
Sciences
in
America,
left
the
United States two weeks ago
after
his visa was revoked, U.S.
officials
said. Idris is a native of Sudan, but wassponsored as a diplomat here by the Saudi embassy and had an
office
in that embassy's Islamic
affairs
section,according to a lawyer associated with him.
Idris's
departure follows
a
decision
by the
Saudi government
to
stop providing diplomatic status
to
Islamic
clerics
and
educators teaching overseas, according to a senior Saudi
official
who declined to be identified. The
official
said that
in
the
future,
only
staff
with legitimate diplomatic business at Saudi embassies around the world will be givendiplomaticvisas, partof alarger
effort
to getSaudi embassiesout of thebusinessofpromoting religion.
"We
are going to shut down the Islamic
affairs
section in every embassy," the
officials
said. "That's the objective."
Referring
to the Institute in
Fairfax,
which is a satellite campus of a prominent university in Riyadh, the Saudi
official
alsosaid:
"We're going
to
sever
its
ties with
the
embassy....
They will
no
longer
be
sponsored
by the
embassy."Such
a
move could complicate
the
institute's
future
because
its
staff,
lacking diplomatic status, will
be
required
to
obtainvisas and work permits to teach in the United States, something that U.S. authorities may be unwilling to provide
in
some cases.
Officials
at the
institute could
not be
reached
for
comment.
The
Saudi action is part of that government's increased vigilance toward expressions of religious extremism
after
the
deadlyMayterrorist attackinRiyadh that shockedtheoil-rich nationand itsruling
family.
Thegovernmenthasdismissed hundreds
of
imams
from
Saudi mosques
for
allegedly using extremist rhetoric,
and has
moved
to
delete
language denigrating non-Muslims from school texts and curriculum.
The
Saudis also have cracked down
on
violent Islamic extremists operating
in the
desert kingdom.
In
addition, U.S.
law
enforcement agencies are trying to learn whether hundreds of millions of dollars spent by the embassy here eachyear have
aided
extremists
in the
United States.
 
3
of
3 DOCUMENTSCopyright 2003TheWashington PostThe Washington PostDecember 11, 2003 ThursdayFinal Edition
SECTION:
A Section; A24
LENGTH:
632
words
HEADLINE:
Saudi
Group's Leader Critical of Clerics
BYLINE:
Susan Schmidt, Washington Post
Staff
Writer
BODY:
The director of a U.S. group that
seeks
democratic
reform
in
Saudi
Arabia complained yesterday about an
upcoming
conference in Texas that will
feature
addresses broadcast
from
Riyadh by
clerics
who have praised holy war
and
Osama bin Laden.Ali Ahmed, head of the Washington-based
Saudi
Institute, also noted that instructors at a Virginia Islamic institute
who
hold diplomatic credentials issued by the
Saudi
Embassy are scheduled to speak at the gathering.Keynote speakers at the three-day event in Houston, scheduled to begin Dec. 24, have espoused intolerance forChristians, Jews and
Shiite
Muslims. One of them, Sheikh Allamah Ibn Jibreen, has publicly urged young Saudis to join
al
Qaeda
and
fight
U.S. forces
in
Iraq
and
Afghanistan, according
to the
Saudi
Institute.Ahmed said he
believes
it is outrageous that the
Saudi
government is allowing the
clerics
to espouse their views
while
repressing groups, such as his, that urge reform.
Saudi
Embassy
officials
declined to discuss the upcoming conference. "The embassy has no comment onsomething that hasn't happened yet," said Michael Petruzzello, whose public relations firm represents the embassy. "Thepreaching of incitement or extremism is prohibited in
Saudi
Arabia. If that's what happens, they'll deal with it
after
the
conference."Last
week,
a
Saudi
official
said that
the
embassy would cease sponsoring
the
Fairfax-based Institute
for
Islamic
and
Arabic Sciences in America
(IIASA),
as part of Riyadh's recent
efforts
to curb the spread of extremist Islamicrhetoric.
The
diplomatic credentials of 16 clerics and instructors at
IIASA
who are accredited with the
Saudi
Embassy arebeing withdrawn, the
official,
who asked not to be identified, said this week.
Among
IIASA
instructors on the conference schedule are Yusef Shebaili and Saleh as Sawi. Two others havecanceled, according to an updated list of
conference
speakers. They are the
IIASA's
Islamic Studies director, Fuad
Ghanem,
and Ibrahim bin al-Kulaib, who is also president of the Islamic Foundation of America in Springfield.Jibreen, who is to speak via video hookup
from
Saudi
Arabia, is an influential cleric whose Web site is linked tothe
IIASA
site. Ahmed said Jibreen praised bin Laden in a speech recorded in
Saudi
Arabia as recently as two months
ago.
"Osama is a man who
fought
in the path of God for a long time," Jibreen said, according to a translation providedby the
Saudi
Institute. "May God aid him and bring victory to him and by him."
 
3
of
8 DOCUMENTSCopyright 2004 The Washington PostTheWashington PostJanuary 29, 2004 ThursdayFinal Edition
SECTION:
A Section; A10
LENGTH:
878 words
HEADLINE:
U.S. Revokes Visas of 16 at Islamic Institute;Order Is Part of Ongoing Crackdown
BYLINE:
Caryle Murphy and Susan Schmidt, Washington Post
Staff
Writers
BODY:
The State Department recently revoked the diplomatic visas of 16 people
affiliated
with an Islamic institute inVirginia,
the
latest
step
in a
joint U.S.-Saudi
crackdown that
has led to an
exodus
of
Riyadh's diplomats
from
theUnited
States in recent months, a senior Saudi
official
said yesterday.
The
16
staffers
at the
Fairfax-based Institute
for
Islamic
and
Arabic Sciences
in
America
are
among
two
dozen
Saudi
personnel whose diplomatic credentials were revoked in recent weeks, a senior U.S. law enforcement
official
said.
The
revocations,
the
official
said, were part
of "an
ongoing
effort
to
protect
the
homeland."
He
said
the
Saudishave been
told
that they must
leave within
two
weeks.
In all, about 70 people with Saudi diplomatic credentials about have
left
the United States in the past
four
months,
the
Saudi
official
said.The most recent revocations are part of the attempt by both countries to curb the spread of extremist Islamicrhetoric in this country and ensure that all Saudi Embassy employees are engaged in legitimate diplomatic activity,U.S.
and
Saudi officials
said.
The joint
effort
is part of Riyadh's increased cooperation with Washington in the war on terrorism, which beganwhen Saudi Arabia was hit last May by the first of two deadly suicide bombings. The attacks are believed to be the
work
of terrorists linked to al Qaeda.The State Department's move to revoke the diplomatic status of institute
staffers
came
after
Riyadh decided thatthe
institute
and its
staff would
no
longer
be
attached
to the
embassy. That
decision
followed
accusations
that
the
institute, a satellite campus of
al-Imam
Muhammad Ibn Saud Islamic University in Riyadh, was promoting a brand ofIslam that critics say is intolerant of other strains of the religion as well as Christianity and Judaism.In December, the Saudi
official
added, the embassy
informed
institute employees of its decision, advising them toapply to U.S. authorities for work permits or leave the United States. Last week, the State Department informed the
Saudi
Embassy that the
staffers
would lose their diplomatic status in 30 days, the Saudi
official
said.Attempts yesterday to reach some of the institute
staffers
were unsuccessful.
Of the
16
institute
staffers,11
are
Saudis
and five are
non-Saudis,
the
Saudi
official
said.
One has
already returnedto Saudi Arabia and another, Ibrahim bin al Kulaib, had applied for and received a U.S. work permit, which wouldallow him to remain here, he added.
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