Prominent Saudis dismissed U.S. accusations of severe violations of religious freedom in the kingdom and said on Thursday that the criticisms were politically motivated.
Government officials were not immediately available over the Muslim weekend to respond to Washington's decision to put Saudi Arabia on a blacklist of countries of "particular concern" in an annual report on Wednesday tracking religious freedom worldwide.
But the move was met with skepticism by many in the kingdom, whose close alliance with the United States has come under increasing strain in the last three years and become an issue in the U.S. presidential campaign. "I can't say Saudi Arabia is the freest country. But it is the cradle of Islam. Are they proposing to have churches or synagogues or Buddhist temples here?" said Abdulaziz al-Fayez, a member of Saudi Arabia's consultative Shura Council.
"All Saudis are Muslims and this is a Muslim state."
Saudi Arabia, home to Islam's holiest sites, is also the birthplace of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and 15 of the 19 hijackers who carried out the Sept. 11 attacks on U.S. cities that killed nearly 3,000 people in 2001.
Critics say the country's strict Wahhabi brand of Islam has fostered anti-U.S. militancy. Wednesday's report said religious freedoms were denied to all Saudis except those who adhere to the "state-sanctioned version of Sunni Islam."
The State Department report found -- as in previous years -- that "freedom of religion does not exist" in Saudi Arabia, but included it for the first time on a blacklist alongside Vietnam, Eritrea, Burma, China, Cuba, Iran and North Korea.
POLITICAL REPORT
Some Saudis pointed skeptically to the timing of the report, ahead of U.S. presidential elections. Democrats accuse President Bush of ignoring Saudi Arabia's rights record until now for fear of causing any backlash from the world's biggest oil supplier that could affect the U.S. economy.
"Saudi Arabia is becoming an election issue. In the Cold War you would hear about the Soviet Union and China. Now, after 9/11, it's Saudi Arabia," said Khalid Dakhil, professor of political sociology at Riyadh's King Saud University.
"It's an extremely political report," said analyst Hussein Shubokshi. "It's just convenient for Saudi Arabia to be a scapegoat and put pressure on Saudi Arabia and the region."
Wednesday's surprise designation allowed for a range of sanctions on Saudi Arabia, but there was no expectation that any would be applied.
Saudi Arabia's minority Shi'ite Muslims have long complained of second-class treatment in the Sunni-dominated country. Human rights groups also say many of the 6 million expatriate workers are prevented from practicing their religion.
But Fayez said Muslim preachers in the United States were being harassed "under the cover of anti-terrorism measures."
"This is not the ideal state," he said. "But those who come here understand it is a Muslim country. In the privacy of their homes, no one checks what they do."
Dakhil said U.S. criticism of Saudi Arabia and its strong support of Israel showed double standards at work.
"Is it all right for Israel to say their state must be a Jewish state -- and then criticize a Muslim state for being Muslim? That's hypocrisy."