State Department to Issue Report Critical of Saudi Government, But Won't Testify at Congressional Hearing (updated 11/8)
By Andrew Cochran
Late on Monday, the State Department informed the press that it will issue the annual report on states which restrict religious freedom tomorrow, and the report will again name Saudi Arabia as one of the eight countries of particular concern. The citation of the Saudi government in the 2004 report was cited in a bipartisan letter sent to Secretary Rice in March, in which 15 Senators urged Sec. Rice to persuade the Saudi government to stop the distribution of such material and to implement other measures to curtail Saudi-based extremism (see this post on that letter). The news of the issuance of the State Department report comes on the eve of the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the Saudis' role in disseminating anti-American and anti-Israeli propaganda, at which Steven Emerson will testify. UPDATE: The State Department will not testify at the hearing (NY Post 11/8 - free reg required); a senior Treasury Department official shall testify. We hope you watch on CSPAN, which will provide live hearing coverage on CSPAN3 and on its internet site. I'll report on the hearing and post Steve's testimony afterwards.