Saudi takes rare turn on congressional hot seat
Riyadh's support for extremist clerics is under scrutiny as Congress debates whether to allow terror victims to sue the kingdom.
Fifteen years after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Congress finally addressed the Wahhabi elephant in the room.
At a fiery House Foreign Affairs panel hearing May 24, members of both parties took turns accusing one of America's closest Mideast allies of being a front of extremism. Lawmakers acknowledged that Saudi Arabia has made great strides in cracking down on terrorism finance since 2001, but argued that its support for the propagation of radical Islam has fueled religious violence around the world.
"While the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has adopted strict laws prohibiting terrorism finance, there continues to be press reports about Saudi charities and individual donors funding [the Islamic State (IS)], al-Qaeda and foreign fighters," said terrorism subcommittee Chairman Ted Poe, R-Texas. "The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia still spends billions of dollars every year exporting the Wahhabi interpretation of Islam through its networks of building mosques and schools throughout the world, including in the United States."
Others piled on.
