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Saudi School threatened with closure

Vienna’s School Board has threatened a controversial private Saudi School with closure by the end of the 2014/2015 school year, after it failed to provide the names of its director and teachers.

Published: 15 December 2014 10:42 CET

Saudi School threatened with closure

File photo: APA/Neubauer

Mathias Meissner, press spokesman for the School Board, told The Local that the school failed to give names for its staff and management by a December 1st deadline, which it is legally obliged to do.

The school can appeal the board’s decision within four weeks.

The school has been under review since November after a report in News magazine alleged that conspiracy theories and anti-Semitism were being taught at the school. Meissner said that these allegations still have to be proved, and the board plans to carry out inspections in the near future.

It has also been asked to provide certified German translations of all its teaching materials by the end of the year.

A reporter from News magazine got hold of a copy of a school history textbook which reportedly contained sentences like “the Freemasons were a secret, subversive Jewish organization, which aimed to secure Jewish control of the world".

Around 150 students attend the school. It is run by the Saudi government and is not a religious institution. All lessons are taught in Arabic and follow the Saudi curriculum.

However, the school must still comply with statutes set by the Austrian Education Ministry, and anti-Semitism and incitement, as well as failing to provide names of teachers, are against Austrian law.

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French firm strikes Saudi weapons deal despite Yemen pressure

Saudi hovercraft participate in last year's "Gulf Shield 1" military drills. Photo: Bandar Al-Jaloud/Saudi Royal Palace/AFP

The memorandum of understanding between Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI) and France's Naval Group is aimed at providing the oil-rich Gulf state's navy with “state-of-the-art systems”, a statement said.

“Through design, construction, and maintenance activities, the joint venture will contribute significantly to further enhancing the capabilities and readiness of our Royal Saudi Naval Forces,” SAMI boss Andreas Schwer said.

A spokeswoman for Naval Group — which is owned by the French state and French multinational giant Thales — refused to give any more details.

French lawmakers and rights groups have repeatedly called on France's government to suspend all arms deals to Riyadh because of the war in Yemen, where some 10,000 people have been killed since a Saudi-led coalition intervened in 2015.

Riyadh is battling on the side of the internationally recognised government against Iran-aligned Huthi rebels, in a conflict that has seen all sides accused of potential war crimes.

The US House of Representatives this week voted overwhelmingly to end American involvement in Saudi Arabia's war effort in neighbouring Yemen, dealing a rebuke to President Donald Trump and his alliance with the kingdom.

France, one of the world's biggest arms exporters, has sold equipment to Riyadh and fellow coalition member the UAE — notably Caesar artillery guns and ammunition, sniper rifles and armoured vehicles.

OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia has been one of the world's top arms buyers for the past several years.

But in 2017, the kingdom's Public Investment Fund set up SAMI to manufacture arms locally with the fund expecting it to become one of the world's top 25 defence companies by 2030.

Naval Group — which was previously called DCNS — has been embroiled in a long-running graft scandal over the 2002 sale of two Scorpene submarines to Malaysia for $1.2 billion.

The submarine maker is alleged to have paid more than 114 million euros ($128 million) in kickbacks to a shell company linked to a close associate of ousted Malaysian leader Najib Razak.

A French investigation launched in 2010 has already led to four French executives involved in the deal being charged. They all deny wrongdoing.

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