By Monty Tayloe
The U.S. State Department has left it up to Fairfax County whether to continue leasing county buildings to the Islamic Saudi Academy, a local Islamic school that has operated in Alexandria and Fairfax for more than 20 years.
Textbooks used by ISA were recently found by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom to promote religious intolerance and violence.
"The [State Department] has not objected to the [Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia] leasing the property in question for the Academy," reads the letter to Fairfax Board chairman Gerry Connolly on behalf of Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice.
Although the county board voted in May to renew the school's lease, they reconsidered after the allegations by the USCIRF were released. Since the school is leased through the Saudi Arabian government, Fairfax asked the State Department to weigh in, a request that agency has now denied.
"No authorization from the Department to renew the lease is required," the federal response reads, putting the ball firmly in Fairfax County's court.
As of press time, county supervisors had not indicated what their next step might be. Read more ...
The U.S. State Department has left it up to Fairfax County whether to continue leasing county buildings to the Islamic Saudi Academy, a local Islamic school that has operated in Alexandria and Fairfax for more than 20 years.
Textbooks used by ISA were recently found by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom to promote religious intolerance and violence.
"The [State Department] has not objected to the [Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia] leasing the property in question for the Academy," reads the letter to Fairfax Board chairman Gerry Connolly on behalf of Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice.
Although the county board voted in May to renew the school's lease, they reconsidered after the allegations by the USCIRF were released. Since the school is leased through the Saudi Arabian government, Fairfax asked the State Department to weigh in, a request that agency has now denied.
"No authorization from the Department to renew the lease is required," the federal response reads, putting the ball firmly in Fairfax County's court.
As of press time, county supervisors had not indicated what their next step might be. Read more ...
Source: Fairfax Times
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