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WASHINGTON DC - The State Dept. has revoked the diplomatic visas of more than 12 staff members at a Saudi religious school in suburban Virginia that advocates the strict Saudi brand of Islam known as Wahhabism."We have asked the Saudi mission to arrange for the immediate departure of these individuals," State Dept. spokesman Richard Boucher said.The staff members work at the Institute of Islamic and Arabic Sciences in America, a school based in FAlls Church, VA., funded by the Saudi government and affiliated with Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud Islamic University in Riyadh.Mr. Boucher said the department occasionally learns that holders...

Washington, DC, Jul. 2 (UPI) -- Federal agents have searched the Institute for Islamic and Arabic Sciences in America, a Virginia Muslim school with alleged terrorist ties. The Washington Times reported Friday that FBI, Internal Revenue Service and the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents swarmed the Fairfax County school Thursday morning, conducted searches and interviewed staffers from the school. The FBI and ICE have refused to disclose the nature of the search warrant served, but the school is affiliated with a Saudi Arabian university and has a history of scrutiny from U.S. officials. Sixteen individuals from the institute...

Feds raid Saudi-based organization in N.Va. The Associated Press Jul 2, 2004 FAIRFAX - Federal agents raided the Fairfax offices of a Saudi-based institute yesterday. No arrests were made. A task force of federal agents, including the FBI, raided the offices of the Institute of Islamic and Arabic Sciences. Earlier this year, 16 Saudi diplomats affiliated with the institute had their passports revoked. State Department officials said the diplomats were teaching at the institute rather than serving as diplomats. The institute, in the Merrifield section of Fairfax County, also served as a meeting point for a group of Islamic men...

Per Fox News...

Just broke on Fox.....they are executing a serach warrant on the Center.

In recent months some 70 individuals with diplomatic status from the kingdom of Saudi Arabia have left the United States - an event little noticed in the broad policy debate, but extremely important. Here's why: Since 9/11, and the revelation that 15 of the 19 attackers on that day were their subjects, the Saudi rulers have repeatedly told the United States that the princely regime in Riyadh is a reliable ally in the war against terror. Such claims were restated with greater conviction after the bombings inside the kingdom last year. Yet as often as these reassurances are offered, the...

WASHINGTON [MENL] -- The United States has ordered the expulsion of dozens of Saudi diplomats suspected of helping promulgate Al Qaida ideology. The State Department revoked the diplomatic credentials of the Saudi diplomats in Washington over the last month in an effort to crack down on Saudi efforts to promote Al Qaida interests in the United States. Diplomatic sources said about 70 diplomats and embassy staffers were expelled in late 2003 and dozens of others were ordered to leave the United States by mid-February. Many of those expelled were said to have worked in the office of the Saudi defense...

Statement from Saudi Embassy in Washington on Expulsion of Diplomats www.spa.gov.sa/html/archive_e.asp?srcfile=612281&NDay=30/01/2004&wcatg=0 Washington, Jan 30, SPA -- In response to reports pirating to expulsion of some Saudi diplomats from the US, Ambassador Ahmad bin Abdulaziz Kattan, the Deputy Chief of the Saudi Diplomatic Mission in the US, in a statement to SPA, said that in line with the directives of the Custodian of the two Holy Mosques King Fahd bin Abdulaziz, the Institute of Islamic and Arabic Studies was established in America more than 15 years ago. He noted that the Institute still receives the support of the Saudi leadership and...

U.S. Revokes Visa of Cleric at Saudi Embassy Monarchy to No Longer Be Islamic Institute's Sponsor By Susan Schmidt and Caryle Murphy Washington Post Staff Writers Sunday, December 7, 2003; Page A01 U.S. authorities have revoked the diplomatic visa of an influential Islamic cleric, and the Saudi government has decided it will no longer sponsor an Islamic institute in Virginia where he sometimes lectured, moves that reflect both nations' increasing efforts to curb the spread of extremist Islamic rhetoric, according to U.S. and Saudi officials. Jaafar Idris, who was affiliated with the Fairfax-based Institute for Islamic and Arabic Sciences in...

The United States has ordered the expulsion of dozens of Saudi diplomats suspected of helping promulgate Al Qaida ideology, diplomatic sources said. The State Dept. has refused to either confirm or deny the action.. The State Department revoked the diplomatic credentials of the Saudi diplomats in Washington over the last month in an effort to crack down on Saudi efforts to promote Al Qaida interests in the United States. The diplomatic sources said about 70 diplomats and embassy staffers were expelled in late 2003 and dozens of others were ordered to leave the United States by mid-February. Many of those...