- ABU DHABI - Saudi
Arabia has refused to revise its educational curriculum as part of a U.S.-led
campaign to halt the promotion of Islamic holy war against the West. The
kingdome has come under pressure from leading clerics over the prospect
of such reforms.
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- Western diplomatic sources said the United States has
raised with the kingdom such issues as the Saudi educational curriculum
and the blocking of funding to insurgency groups. About 1,000 victims of
the Al Qaida suicide attacks more than a year ago have sued leading Saudi
princes and institutions for more than $11 trillion.
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- But Saudi Defense Minister Prince Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz
dismissed the need for Saudi educational reform, Middle East Newsline reported.
He said critics do not understand the Saudi interpretation of Islam.
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- "There are some who try to drive a wedge between
Saudi Arabia and its friend, the United States," Prince Sultan said.
"But our friendship will remain. We are not extremists, and there
is no such thing as a Wahhabi sect. This is a movement that sought to reform
religious concepts."
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- Sultan said Islam is composed of four schools of thought.
He cited the Hanafi, Hanbali, Maliki and Shafi " failing to mention
the Shia stream. There are an estimated three million Shi'ites in the kingdom.
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- In Riyad, 56 Saudi Wahabi clerics issued a statement
that warned the government against revising policy in the fields of Islamic
education and religious institutions. The statement was signed by Sheik
Abdul Rahman Al Barak, regarded as the most influential Sunni clerics in
the kingdom.
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- Prince Sultan said the United States has not requested
that the kingdom revise its curriculum in schools. Sultan said Riyad would
reject any such request.
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- "We do not plan to change our educational policy
and no one asked us to do so," Prince Sultan said. "All that
has been said about one country or another asking us to amend our [education]
system is unfounded. In any event, it would be unacceptable since this
is a sovereignty-related matter."
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- On Tuesday, more than 1,000 Islamic scholars will participate
in the ninth international conference organized by the World Assembly of
Muslim Youth in Jedda. The government-sponsored conference will be opened
by Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz and will last until Friday.
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- Organizers said the conference will focus on Islamic
indocrination among youngsters and the impact of globalization and the
brain and capital drain from Muslim countries. The parley will also discuss
information technology and its role in spreading Islam.
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