U.S. blacklists Saudi Arabia for violations of religious freedom

The State Department yesterday put Saudi Arabia on its blacklist of severe violators of religious freedom for the first time, opening the door to U.S. sanctions.

U.S. officials, however, said penalties against the desert kingdom are not likely to follow.

Vietnam and Eritrea were also added to the list, which includes China, Sudan, Iran, Burma and North Korea.

Iraq was taken off the list earlier this year.

The Bush administration has been criticized by religious and human rights groups in recent years for turning a blind eye to Saudi Arabia’s religious practices by failing to designate it as a country of “particular concern.”

Even though in previous years the State Department has used strong language on the situation in the kingdom in its annual report on international religious freedom, this year’s edition is especially harsh.

“Freedom of religion does not exist” in Saudi Arabia, the report says. “Freedom of religion is not recognized or protected under the country’s laws, and basic religious freedoms are denied to all but those who adhere to the state-sanctioned version of Sunni Islam.”

The document also cites “frequent instances in which mosque preachers, whose salaries were paid by the government, used violent anti-Jewish and anti-Christian language in their sermons.”

Secretary of State Colin L. Powell played down the criticism of one of Washington’s key allies in the Middle East and the world’s largest oil exporter.

“Let me emphasize that we will continue engaging the countries of particular concern with whom we have bilateral relationships,” Mr. Powell told reporters.

“Our existing partnerships have flourished in numerous capacities and they are just one of the best ways for us to encourage our friends to adopt tolerant practices,” he said.

John Hanford, the State Department’s ambassador at large for international religious freedom, said his office “felt that the time had finally come” to list Saudi Arabia.

“There are positive developments in Saudi Arabia that we take encouragement from, but there are a number of problems that persist that we feel place Saudi Arabia over the line,” he said.

Washington’s relationship with Riyadh has been extremely sensitive since the September 11 terrorist attacks, in which 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudis.

The Saudi Embassy had no immediate comment on the country’s designation yesterday.

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