U.S. Seeks Saudis’ Aid in Combating Hate Tracts

U.S. envoy Karen Hughes said Tuesday that Washington was concerned about hate literature in American mosques and had asked the Saudi government for help in getting rid of it.

The disclosure by Hughes, whose job as undersecretary of State for public diplomacy is to counter the negative U.S. image among Muslims and explain President Bush’s policies, came during a meeting with Saudi journalists.

It was unclear which Saudi officials the U.S. held talks with. Hughes did not discuss the matter, or other human rights issues, in a meeting later with King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia.

“We are concerned that literature has been found in American mosques that has a message that is not tolerant, and we hope the people of Saudi Arabia will work with us as we try to deal with this issue,” she said at the lunch with Saudi media.

U.S. Ambassador James C. Oberwetter said Hughes was the first top Bush administration official to talk publicly in the kingdom about the anti-Christian, anti-Semitic material, which some human rights groups say has been sanctioned by the Saudi government.

In another meeting, Hughes questioned the Saudi ban on female drivers, telling a crowd of several hundred women draped head to toe in black that the ban had negatively shaped the image of Saudi society in the U.S.

“We in America take our freedoms very seriously,” Hughes said. “I believe women should be free and equal participants in society. I feel that as an American woman that my ability to drive is an important part of my freedom.”

Many people who spoke with Hughes focused on the poor image of Saudi Arabia in the United States, complaining about media coverage that they said portrayed Saudi men as terrorists and Saudi women as abused and unhappy. Hughes raised the driving issue in response to such a question during a meeting at Dar al-Hekma, a private college.

Women interviewed at the college after Hughes spoke said they were pleased that she brought up the driving ban, but appeared divided on whether the ban was positive or negative for them.

Fouzia Pasham, a gynecologist, defended the practice, saying women who drive in other countries have to keep “a good smiling face” as they are forced to shuttle around town picking up their children and doing errands.

But another woman who declined to give her full name said she had secretly learned to drive in the desert and was frustrated by the ban, even though she could afford two drivers.

“We are very happy and satisfied, but we would be happier and more satisfied if we could drive,” she said.