stuff from us — allow them to whisk their citizens out."

While law enforcement and diplomatic officials have met to discuss the Noorah case, they insisted privately that there is little more they can do. Nor is the Trump administration considering any complaint or sanction against the Saudi government for its role in abetting the flight of Noorah and other Saudi fugitives, officials said.

The FBI and the Justice Department declined to comment for this article, saying they could not discuss matters under investigation.

In 2008, intelligence analysts noticed a series of calls to an ICE office from a Saudi official in Washington

In 2008, intelligence analysts at the headquarters of Immigration and Customs Enforcement spotted a striking trend, national security officials recalled. The analysts, who monitored potential terrorist and criminal threatsrelated to foreign students, noted a series of calls to an ICE office from a Saudi official in Washington.

The official worked at the Saudi Arabian Cultural Mission, a branch of the country's diplomatic operation that was then located in a building near the Watergate office complex. He called periodically to ask about the visa status of various Saudi students. On further examination, the analysts found that some of the students had been charged with crimes including rape, embezzlement, and theft, and that they had unlawfully fled the country, a former senior national security official said.

The J. Edgar Hoover building, the FBI's Washington, DC headquarters. FBI The mission, established in Washington in 1951, administers government scholarships overseas and helps prepare the visiting students for life in a culture very