The US State Department recently revoked the diplomatic visas of 16 people affiliated with an Islamic institute in Virginia, in the latest step in an ongoing joint American-Saudi attempt to "curb the spread of extremist Islamic rhetoric" in the US, the Washington Post, citing a top Saudi official, reported.
The joint crackdown has led to an "exodus of Riyadh's diplomats from the United States in recent months."
In its Thursday edition, the Post, citing a US official, said 16 staffers at the Fairfax-based Institute for Islamic and Arabic Sciences in the United States are among two dozen Saudi personnel whose diplomatic credentials were revoked recently.
According to the unnamed official, the revocations were in the framework of "an ongoing effort to protect the homeland." He added the Saudis have been told that they must leave within two weeks.
Around 70 people with Saudi diplomatic credentials have left the United States in the past four months, the Saudi official said. (Albawaba.com)
© 2004 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
