By Caryle Murphy and Susan Schmidt
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, January 29, 2004; Page A10

The State Department recently revoked the diplomatic visas of 16 people affiliated with an Islamic institute in Virginia, the latest step in a joint U.S.-Saudi crackdown that has led to an exodus of Riyadh's diplomats from the United States in recent months, a senior Saudi official said yesterday.

The 16 staffers at the Fairfax-based Institute for Islamic and Arabic Sciences in America are among two dozen Saudi personnel whose diplomatic credentials were revoked in recent weeks, a senior U.S. law enforcement official said. The revocations, the official said, were part of "an ongoing effort to protect the homeland." He said the Saudis have been told that they must leave within two weeks.

In all, about 70 people with Saudi diplomatic credentials about have left the United States in the past four months, the Saudi official said.

The most recent revocations are part of the attempt by both countries to curb the spread of extremist Islamic rhetoric in this country and ensure that all Saudi Embassy employees are engaged in legitimate diplomatic activity, U.S. and Saudi officials said.

The joint effort is part of Riyadh's increased cooperation with Washington in the war on terrorism, which began when Saudi Arabia was hit last May by the first of two deadly suicide bombings. The attacks are believed to be the work of terrorists linked to al Qaeda.

The State Department's move to revoke the diplomatic status of institute staffers came after Riyadh decided that the institute and its staff would no longer be attached to the embassy. That decision followed accusations that the institute, a satellite campus of al-Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud Islamic University in Riyadh, was promoting a brand of Islam that critics say is intolerant of other strains of the religion as well as Christianity and Judaism.

In December, the Saudi official added, the embassy informed institute employees of its decision, advising them to apply to U.S. authorities for work permits or leave the United States. Last week, the State Department informed the Saudi Embassy that the staffers would lose their diplomatic status in 30 days, the Saudi official said.

Attempts yesterday to reach some of the institute staffers were unsuccessful.

Of the 16 institute staffers, 11 are Saudis and five are non-Saudis, the Saudi official said. One has already returned to Saudi Arabia and another, Ibrahim bin al Kulaib, had applied for and received a U.S. work permit, which would allow him to remain here, he added.

Al Kulaib is president and founder of the Wahabbi-oriented Islamic Foundation of America. Based in Springfield, the foundation runs a mosque and has had an extensive prison outreach program funded by the Saudi religious affairs ministry.

In a faxed statement, Kulaib's office said that "to the best of our knowledge Doctor Kulaib is legally in this country. He has a valid visa." A U.S. law enforcement official, however, said he does not believe al Kulaib has obtained a work visa.

Some Saudi government officials have sought to rein in the activities of the powerful Saudi Ministry of Religious Affairs, some of whose activities continue to embarrass the Saudi royal family.

The ministry has, for example, been paying a salary of $1,700 a month to a Somali man charged with lying about money he allegedly received from a charity the United States has labeled a financier of terrorism, federal prosecutors told a judge in San Diego on Monday.

Prosecutors are seeking to have Omar Abdi Mohammed jailed without bail as a flight risk. Mohammed, a teacher's assistant in the public schools, was arrested last week on charges he made false statements in failing to disclose that he received $351,000 from the Illinois-based Global Relief Foundation. Most of that money, prosecutors said, was taken to money transmitters who send funds to the Middle East.

Assistant U.S. Attorney John Parmley told the court Monday that Mohammed has received more than $100,000 from the Saudi government over the past several years, including money for travel and housing. Mohammed's lawyer, Kerry Bader, said his client received the money for religious work.

FBI and Saudi officials have been working to identify other Saudis sponsored by the religious affairs ministry here who are spreading extremist rhetoric. U.S. officials said that last month a decision was made to try to send large numbers of those diplomats back to Saudi Arabia.

A government official who asked not to be identified said that the Saudi Embassy was sent a diplomatic note last year asking it to review its diplomats to ensure that all are in compliance with the criteria for those visas.

The Saudi official said that in addition to the institute staffers, 50 to 60 other people were told they would no longer be sponsored by the embassy as diplomats and that "most of them had to leave [the United States], certainly most of the Saudis had to leave."

He said that they worked in various capacities at the embassy, including in its cultural, press and military offices. "We went through our list [of diplomats], several hundred people, to get those who don't have a legitimate reason to be attached to the embassy . . . and we said, 'We're going to pull your status,' " the Saudi official said.