Allies complain Saudis funding 7,000 Islamic seminaries
SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Friday, July 19, 2002
WASHINGTON — U.S. allies have complained that Gulf states' funding for 7,000 Islamic seminaries around the world is helping train a new generation of militants, members of Congress said yesterday.
In a hearing of the House International Relations Committee which focused on U.S. anti-terrorism efforts in South Asia, they said the funding comes largely from Saudi Arabia and is sent to seminaries in such countries as Bosnia, Pakistan and Uzbekistan.
Rep. Edward Royce, a California Republican, said U.S. allies in Central Asia have been urging Washington to stop Saudi funding of Islamic seminaries in their countries that promote violence and religious attacks on Westerners and non-Muslims. The congressman recently returned from a trip to the region, Middle East Newsline reported.
"In Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, when I was there the question was brought up repeatedly that it's Gulf State money — it's Saudi money, you know, that is coming in to fund this — not just in Pakistan but in the whole region," Royce said. "And so I just bring to the administration's attention we need to figure out a strategy for Gulf State money. It isn't the governments in the Gulf state but it is influential people in the Gulf States that are funding these jihadi schools, and we need to address it."
Assistant Secretary of State Christina Rocca did not deny Royce's assertion and stressed that the United States was urging reform of Pakistan's educational system. But the secretary, responsible for south Asian affairs, did not outline an administration response to the allegations of Saudi funding to the seminaries, known as madrassas.
"The initiative on the madrassas is something that we welcome, but it is not something that we have asked for or that we imposed," Ms. Rocca said.
"The funding mechanisms is something that Pakistan is looking at. They are requiring that funding be disclosed, that any foreign funding be disclosed. This is something which is up to the government of Pakistan."
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