Lawmaker Raises Questions About $20-Million Saudi Gift to Georgetown U.

Rep. Frank R. Wolf, Republican of Virginia, sent a letter to Georgetown University’s president, John J. DeGioia, on Thursday asking for details on a $20-million donation from a Saudi prince for an academic center on Muslim and Christian relations, reports The Washington Post.

The university received the gift, the second largest in its history, in December 2005 from Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, a businessman and global investor, to expand its Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, which now carries the prince’s name. The center was founded in 1993 to build connections between the Muslim world and the West and improve understanding between Muslims and Christians.

In his letter to Georgetown, Mr. Wolf raised concerns about the Saudi government financing activities that may have supported Islamic militants and extremists.

“It is also important to know if the center has examined Saudi links to extremism and terrorism, including the relationship between Saudi public education and the Kingdom-supported clerical establishment, on the one hand, and the rise of anti-American attitudes, extremism, and violence in the Muslim world, on the other,” the letter says.

Julie Green Bataille, a spokeswoman for Georgetown, issued a statement saying that university officials would respond to Representative Wolf. The university also released a statement saying that the gift is being used “to advance the study of Islamic civilization and Muslim-Christian understanding, and intercultural and interreligious dialogue, and educational programs in these fields.”