*DUBAI, UAE: *Saudi Arabia has made little progress in removing textbookcontent that promotes violence and hatred towards religious minorities andothers, a US government watchdog said, encouraging Riyadh to take the issuemore seriously.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, currently on his first visit to theUnited States as heir apparent, has promised to promote a more moderateform of Islam under plans to modernize the deeply conservative Muslimkingdom.

The Saudi education minister last week said the country was revamping itseducation curriculum to eradicate any trace of Muslim Brotherhood influenceand dismiss anyone working in the sector who sympathizes with the bannedgroup.

In a new study of select textbooks in use in Saudi Arabia, the USCommission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) said in a statementon Saturday it had compared twelve 2017-2018 high school religion textbookswith versions from 2012-2014 and found that the current books contained notonly numerous intolerant and “inflammatory” passages but also severalpassages specifically thought to have been removed from earlier books.

It said examples of intolerant content included passages extolling war – asfighting against non-Muslims, prescribing execution of apostates and thosewho mock God or the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), and demeaning non-Muslims andwarning Muslims against associating with them. AGENCIES