WASHINGTON, July 19: The United States has extended a waiver that avoids imposing sanctions on Saudi Arabia because it has made efforts to improve religious tolerance, U.S. officials said on Wednesday.

In 2004, the United States put Saudi Arabia on a watch list, warning that it could put sanctions if it did not expand religious freedom.

The waiver for Saudi Arabia is the only time Washington has eschewed punishing a blacklisted country under a 1998 law targeting violators of religious rights.

After its 2004 listing, the U.S. State Department avoided any immediate action with a waiver while it worked with Saudi Arabia on issues such as deleting insults about Jews in school textbooks.

But by law, the Bush administration had to determine whether to extend the waiver or take the unusual step of imposing what would have been largely symbolic sanctions on a wealthy ally.

On Wednesday, the State Department informed the U.S. Congress that it decided to leave in place the waiver, citing Saudi cooperation in promoting more tolerance and creating a rights commission to review complaints, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said in a statement.—Reuters