'Is Saudi Arabia A Strategic Threat?' Nov. 18 USCIRF Hearing on Capitol Hill 11/12/2003
From: Anne Johnson of The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, 202-523-3240, ext. 27 News Advisory: The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), an independent, bipartisan federal agency, will hold a hearing titled "Is Saudi Arabia a Strategic Threat?: the Global Propagation of Intolerance" on November 18 on Capitol Hill. The U.S. Department of State has said that freedom of religion "does not exist" in Saudi Arabia, and the USCIRF has recommended that the Secretary of State designate Saudi Arabia a "country of particular concern" for its "egregious, systematic and ongoing abuses of religious freedom." Since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States, there have been a growing number of reports that funding coming from Saudi Arabia has been used to finance religious schools and other activities that are alleged to support the kind of hate and intolerance practiced by Islamic militants and extremists throughout the world. These reports raise troubling questions about the Saudi government's role in propagating worldwide an ideology that is not only incompatible with the war against terrorism, but may well be promoting it. In an effort to provide some answers, the USCIRF has recommended that Congress authorize and fund a public study to determine whether the Saudi government is directly or indirectly funding efforts to propagate globally, including in the United States, hate, intolerance, and other human rights violations, and in some cases violence, toward members of other religious groups, both Muslim and non-Muslim. What we seek are facts - whether they vindicate or implicate Saudi Arabia. This hearing will be a step in that process. WHAT: "Is Saudi Arabia a Strategic Threat: the Global Propagation of Intolerance" WHEN: Tuesday, Nov. 18, 9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. WHERE: 253 Russell Senate Office Building The Commission will hear testimony from the following confirmed participants: The Honorable David Aufhauser, former General Counsel, U.S. Department of the Treasury and Chair of National Security Council Policy Coordinating Committee on Terrorist Financing. Robert Baer, former CIA operative and author of Sleeping with the Devil: How Washington Sold Our Soul for Saudi Crude. Ambassador Martin Indyk, director, Saban Center for Middle East Policy, The Brookings Institution, and former Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs. Dr. Mai Yamani, research fellow, Middle East Program, Royal Institute of International Affairs, Chatham House, London. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom was created by the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 to give independent policy recommendations to the executive branch and the Congress. Visit the Web Site at http://www.uscirf.gov |