Letter to Secretary of State Colin L. Powell
December 11, 2003
The Honorable Colin L. Powell
Secretary of State
The State Department
Washington, DC 20520
Dear Secretary Powell:
It has come to my attention that two members of the Islamic Affairs section of the Saudi Arabian embassy in Washington may be involved in the spread of religious extremism here in the United States and I urge you to investigate whether they should be allowed to remain in this country.
I applaud the State Department's recent activity in this regard, especially its revocation of the diplomatic visa of Jaafar Idris, a Saudi embassy official reportedly in the Saudi embassy's Islamic Affairs section and affiliated with the Institute for Islamic and Arabia Sciences in America (IIASA), an institution that allegedly promotes extremist Wahhabi Islam and denigrates other religions.
Before he left the country, Mr. Idris was going to address the Texas Dawah Annual Convention in Houston where Saudi clerics who support Osama Bin Laden were also scheduled to speak. There are at least two other officials with Saudi diplomatic credentials who were reportedly scheduled to address the conference: Shaikh Youssef Al-Shubaily and Ibrahim Al-Kulaib. Both men reportedly work at the IIASA and Al Kulaib appears to have received financial support from Saudi Ambassador Prince Bandar to run radio shows in the Washington area. Given the similarity of the profiles of Idris, Al-Shubaily and Al-Kulaib, I believe it is important to determine if these men should also be asked to leave the country.
I am also disappointed that Saudi Arabia appears to be retreating from one of its most promising signs of cooperation in the War on Terror. An embassy official last week reportedly stated that Saudi Arabia would close all Islamic Affairs sections at diplomatic posts around the world in an effort to stem the spread of religious extremism. Unfortunately, two days ago the Saudi Minister of Islamic Affairs, Sheikh Saleh bin Abdul Aziz bin Muhammad bin Ibrahim Al Al-Sheikh, denied these closures in the Arab press, saying these centers are part of the kingdom's global religious message.
Since 9-11, Saudi Arabia's effort to crackdown on extremism has been half-hearted at best. Since it continues to issue diplomatic credentials to those affiliated with apparently extremist institutions here in the United States, I urge you to investigate this practice and determine if these supposed officials should be forced to leave the country. I also urge you to press the Saudis to end their duplicitous game, to stand up and be the allies they claim to be by backing up their promising words with meaningful action.
Sincerely,
Charles Schumer
U.S. Senator