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US waives sanctions on Saudis over religious rights
(Reuters)
Updated: 2005-10-01 08:50
WASHINGTON - The United States has postponed punishing Saudi Arabia, its
close ally and key oil supplier, for restricting religious freedom -- the first
time Washington has waived punishing a blacklisted country under a 1998 law
targeting violators of religious rights. Reuters reported.
U.S. officials
said on Friday the Bush administration had decided to delay imposing sanctions
on Saudi Arabia for six months.
The decision reflects the delicate balance the United States has sought to
strike with Arab allies such as Saudi Arabia as it promotes expanding freedoms
at the risk of irking governments needed to support its oil and terrorism
policies.
In a rare official rebuke a year ago, Washington designated Saudi Arabia as
one of only eight countries worldwide that could be sanctioned. The blacklisting
in an annual report said religious freedom did not exist in the kingdom.
With this year's report due out next month, the Bush administration needed to
decide on sanctioning Saudi Arabia and chose to give the kingdom a further six
months to negotiate how it might improve its record.
"We have not seen strong progress in the area of legal protection for
religious freedom," State Department spokesman Kurtis Cooper said. "(But) we
welcome Saudi recognition of the need to make improvements and create a more
tolerant society."
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