CONGRESS WANTS U.S. TO LIMIT ARMS SALES TO SAUDI

WASHINGTON [MENL] -- A group of prominent members in Congress wants the Bush
administration to limit arms sales to Saudi Arabia.

The demand comes as Congress has complained of the administration's failure
to implement measures against Saudi Arabia in wake of its designation as a
major violator of religious freedom. An increasing number of members of
Congress have questioned whether the United States should continue to sell
armaments to Saudi Arabia.

Leading members of Congress have called on the Bush administration to impose
measures that would restrict weapons sales to Saudi Arabia in 2005. They
said they did not support a total arms embargo on the kingdom.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has received a letter from 15 senators
that demanded that U.S.-Saudi relations be
"defined more clearly." The March 11 letter came amid the State Department
failure to honor a deadline that called for action
against the kingdom, which has been designated a "country of particular
concern" because of its flagrant violations of religious freedom.
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