Senators write to Hillary on Saudi incitement

Advertisement

A bipartisan group of ten U.S. senators have written to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to express concern about "the lack of progress by the government of Saudi Arabia in curbing the promotion of intolerance and extremism."

The letter specifically mentions Saudi pledges to remove passages that demonstrate intolerance and hatred of non-Muslims from school textbooks in the kingdom, as well as their ageement to "halt the dissemination of intolerant literature and extremist ideology, both within Saudi Arabia and around the world." It then urges Clinton to "embark on a public asssessment of the steps the Saudis have taken to curb the export of anti-religious incitement, as well as review the textbooks they have used during the 2008-2009 year inside Saudi Arabia.

Signatories to the letter were Democrats Arlen Specter (Pa.), Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.), Bob Casey (Pa.), Frank Lautenberg (N.J.), Ron Wyden (Ore.) and Ben Cardin (Md.) and Republicans Susan Collins (Me.), George Voinovich (Ohio), Jon Kyl (Ariz.) and Tom Coburn (Okla.) The full letter can be seen here.

Recommended from JTA

Advertisement