WASHINGTON, December 8 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has decided to close Islamic Affairs divisions in all Saudi Embassies around the world, days after the U.S. withdrew the diplomatic visa of a Saudi-related religious figure working in the Islamic Affairs division of the Saudi in Washington.

The Washington Post Sunday, December 7, quoted a senior Saudi official, who refused to be named, as saying, “We’ll close all Islamic Affairs divisions in all our Embassies.”

The statements of the Saudi official come several days following the withdrawal by the U.S. authorities of the diplomatic visa of Sheikh Gaafar Idris, who carries a Saudi diplomatic passport and works in the Islamic Affairs division in the Saudi in Washington and doubles as a lecturer in the Islamic Institute in Virginia.

“Gaafar Idris, a Saudi-born Sudanese, left the U.S. two weeks before withdrawing his visa,” the Post quoted official U.S. sources as saying.

Another Saudi official, whose identity was not disclosed by the U.S. newspaper, said that Idris departed the states following a decision by Saudi government to the effect that those teaching abroad would not be granted diplomatic passports.

“Diplomatic passports and privileges in all Saudi Embassies will be confined in the future to those holding diplomatic posts. This is part of a broader approach to keep embassies free of any tasks related to religious affairs,” the Saudi official said.

“A great number of Saudis living in the U.S. and holding diplomatic passports do not perform any diplomatic tasks in the U.S.,” a U.S. state department official was quoted by the paper as saying, reiterating that “some of them have recently been deprived from their (diplomatic) passports.”

The U.S. official pointed out that Idris’s residence permit “has been withdrawn, as his activities were not in keeping with his diplomatic status,” adding that “Sheikh Idris is supposed to perform tasks related to the Saudi Embassy. It has become evident that he no longer does his duties in the on a regular basis.”

Another U.S. official, the identity of whom was not revealed by the paper, said that Idris-related decisions “reflect the growing U.S. and Saudi efforts to limit fanatic Muslim speech,” according to him.

The Post has pointed out that the decision of the Saudi government to the effect that those teaching abroad should not hold diplomatic passports may undermine the future of the Islamic Institute in Virginia.

“Such a move could complicate the institute's future because its staff, lacking diplomatic status, will be required to obtain visas and work permits to teach in the United States, something that U.S. authorities may be unwilling to provide in some cases,” the Post said.

The paper failed to contact the administration of the institute to comment on the new situation.

Meanwhile, the Saudi authorities have declared that they will stop any support granted to the Islamic Institute in Virginia, deeming that “it calls for a concept of Islam that is intolerable towards other Islamic doctrines.”