Report on 9/11 Suggests a Role by Saudi Spies; may have reported to Saudi government

New York Times ^ | 08-01-03

[Brian S]

Debka hinted as much earlier, NYT publishes it, Scarbrough says its breaking on AP, so...here it is.

[Numbers Guy]

As someone said in January, when "The Kingdom" said we couldn't use Saudi Arabia as a base for invading Iraq, "but Iraq will make an excellent base for invading Saudi Arabia".

[TSgt]

I KNEW IT!

W should make Saudi Arabia flat, black and glowing tonight!

Just like the Pentagon report said, "Saudi Arabia is the kernel of terrorism."

[Brian S]

AP seems to be confirming...:

AP News Alert

The Associated Press
Friday, August 1, 2003; 10:50 PM

WASHINGTON –– Classified sections of congressional terrorism report raise possibility some acquaintances of hijackers tied to Saudi government or intelligence, officials say.

[GraniteStateConservative]

Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, said, "Keeping this material classified only strengthens the theory that some in the U.S. government are hellbent on covering up for the Saudis."

This is a good way to run to the right of Bush on national security. Americans don't view the Saudis in a very positive light; it's smart to pander to that. They can say that if Bush were serious about avenging 9/11, he'd make sure that every person involved in 9/11 in any country in the world would be brought to justice-- even those in Saudi Arabia. It's a great argument because it's hard for Bush to explain the intracies of his policy to the average American.

They could run on that and unfair trade and our trade deficit and visa abuse with China, India, etc., and cut a pretty broad stripe into the Joe Sixpack voter.

[Brian S]

AP version just hitting the wires:

Secret report suggests hijacker acquaintances connected to Saudi government, sources say
JOHN J. LUMPKIN and JOHN SOLOMON, Associated Press Writers
Friday, August 1, 2003
©2003 Associated Press

URL: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2003/08/01/national2302EDT0745.DTL


(08-01) 20:17 PDT WASHINGTON (AP) --

Classified sections of Congress' Sept. 11 report lay out a web of connections among Saudi businessmen, royal family, charities and banks that may have aided al-Qaida or the suicide hijackers, according to people who have seen the report.

The report raises the possibility that one or more Saudi men who were connected to some of the hijackers or their acquaintances were tied to Saudi intelligence. It also suggests a Muslim imam in the United States may have been a facilitator for some hijackers, the sources said, speaking only on condition of anonymity.

U.S. investigators are setting out anew to determine whether the connections are innocent coincidences in an Islamic culture that urges charitable support or a pattern of pro-terror money and patronage flowing from the wealthy kingdom that is a longtime U.S. ally, according to government officials familiar with those efforts.

Some of the most sensitive information in a 28-page classified section of the report involves what U.S. agencies are doing currently to investigate Saudi business figures and organizations, the officials said.

The congressional investigators, however, warn the leads they have dug up for the FBI and CIA to pursue are at times contradictory or circumstantial. U.S. intelligence and FBI investigators view the evidence of ties to Saudi intelligence as unclear, the officials said.

"On the one hand, it is possible that these kinds of connections could suggest, as indicated in a CIA memorandum, 'incontrovertible evidence that there is support for these terrorists,"' one passage from the unclassified section of the report states. "On the other hand, it is also possible that further investigation of these allegations could reveal legitimate, and innocent, explanations for these associations."

Top Saudi officials call for the public release of the still-secret sections of the report that deal with possible Saudi terror connections and say it is ridiculous to suggest the royal family would deliberately fund an al-Qaida movement dedicated to its overthrow.

Adel al-Jubeir, a Saudi foreign policy adviser, said his government hasn't seen the classified section of the report but based on the Saudis' own terrorism investigation believes much of the evidence is likely uncorroborated.

"One of the reasons we believe the intelligence community insisted on classification of that section is it could not confirm or agree with what the joint inquiry report says," al-Jubeir said.

Osama bin Laden, a Saudi by birth, was excommunicated from his homeland in the mid-1990s for his advocacy of violence against the United States and his threats to overthrow the Saudi royal family for allowing U.S. troops on Saudi soil during the 1991 Gulf War.

FBI officials are seeking to question, anew, Saudi businessman Omar al-Bayoumi, who during his time in San Diego threw a welcoming party for eventual hijackers Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi and who put down money for their rent deposit and first month's rent.

Al-Bayoumi left the United States two months before the suicide hijackings of Sept. 11, 2001, and settled in Britain, where Princess Faisal's brother, Prince Turki al-Faisal, was serving as ambassador after a stint as chief of Saudi intelligence.

Several such connections to Saudi government officials have led some in Congress to question if al-Bayoumi was a Saudi intelligence agent -- an allegation al-Jubeir denies. Saudi officials say British and U.S. officials questioned al-Bayoumi immediately after the attacks and released him.

A lawyer for three central witnesses in the Sept. 11 investigation said the FBI also may have an interest in videotapes al-Bayoumi took of numerous events at an Islamic center in San Diego, including the party for two hijackers.

Al-Bayoumi "had a video camera at that party. He and his video camera were inseparable," attorney Randall Hamud said in an interview Friday. "In fact, one of my clients even held the camera for a while at that party."

The classified report, as well as other sensitive intelligence gathered by U.S. investigators, focuses on a series of financial transactions and movements by Saudi citizens and royalty.

Key among them are checks Prince Bandar, the U.S. ambassador to the United States, and his wife, Princess Haifa al-Faisal, made out to a couple who were acquaintances of al-Bayoumi.

Saudi officials say Bandar and al-Faisal transferred tens of thousands of dollars to a Saudi named Osama Basnan and his Jordanian wife, Magda Ibrahim Dweikat.

Al-Jubeir said Bandar gave charitable donations to Basnan to help cover his wife's medical bills starting in 1998 and that al-Faisal separately gave regular monthly payments to Dweikat, who used her maiden name, which would not call attention to her marriage to Basnan.

Al-Jubeir said Saudi investigators traced every payment -- which totaled more than $100,000 -- and found evidence two or three of the princess' checks to Dweikat were signed over to al-Bayoumi's wife. Saudi officials found no evidence that money was transferred to the hijackers or even used by al-Bayoumi when he assisted the hijackers, he said.

He said the money the prince and princess gave was among millions they've donated to help Saudis living in the United States.

FBI officials obtained information about Basnan, who was charged with visa violations after Sept. 11 and eventually sent back to Saudi Arabia, "clearly indicating that Basnan is an extremist and bin Laden supporter," the congressional report concludes.

In a classified section of the report, congressional investigators also trace his movements after Sept. 11, raising the possibility he went to Houston to meet with a Saudi figure with intelligence ties who had come with royal family members when they met with President Bush in Texas.

Among other connections, the report states that a U.S.-based imam who had been on the FBI's radar before Sept. 11 served as a spiritual adviser for two of the hijackers and his mosques may have facilitated the hijackers on both coasts.

The congressional report says the FBI dropped pre-Sept inquiries about the imam, which it does not identify, "despite the imam's contacts with other subjects of counterterrorism interest and reports concerning the imam's connection to suspect organizations."

©2003 Associated Press

[eldoradude]

Time to declare war on Saudi Arabia. Our economy would improve tremendously with cheap oil.

[Brian S]

Perhaps we do need to "liberate" the people of Saudia Arabia...

[xm177e2]

Perhaps we do need to "liberate" the people of Saudia Arabia...

We need to "liberate" the royalty from this mortal coil, and turn over Saudi Arabia to all of the poor Arabs and non-Arab guest workers who have suffered so much abuse at the hands of the Saudis.

[eddie willers]

I take it Pat Leahy been making phone calls.

[BenR2]

I'm sorry, but I have all but lost confidence in GWB's willingness to oppose his Saudi business buddies.

GWB's current "coziness" with 1972 Olympic Terrorist-backer Abu Mazen is LARGELY at the behest of his Saudi buddies, who UNDERWRITE the Palies to the tune of some $4BILLION per annum.

Action; not words is what matters.

I would LOVE to be proven wrong about GWB on this matter, by the way, . . .

But so far I have not been.

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

Saudi Arabia should be getting the same anal exam that Iraq is undergoing now. But the cowardly and inept State Department will not go along. Time for this cesspool to be drained and flamed.

[MJY1288]

I think Leahy was kicked off the Intel committee a while back.

The real problem right now is who leaked this info? This kind of stuff could get some of our contacts and maybe even some of our agents killed. The Saudi's have a lot of explaining to do if this info is accurate and they will have to start handing over those involved pronto or face the music

[Donna Lee Nardo]

or any of the other committee members.

[Brian S]

This kind of stuff could get some of our contacts and maybe even some of our agents killed

From what it reads, this plus Debka earlier, I think some of "our contacts" need to be killed. Who the hell can you trust? Lying bastards, whores to the highest bidder, all.

[Terp]

I take it Pat Leahy been making phone calls.

Actually if you read the article closely it mentions "sources" and mentions "officials". If those who wrote these articles are to believed there was more than one making phone calls.

[FairOpinion]

Also a more honest article points out that there are contradictory information and no solid evidence. The report merely "raises the possibility", does NOT prove any connection.

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/breaking_news/6440242.htm

"The report raises the possibility that one or more Saudi men who were connected to some of the hijackers or their acquaintances were tied to Saudi intelligence. It also suggests a Muslim imam in the United States may have been a facilitator for some hijackers, the sources said, speaking only on condition of anonymity.

The congressional investigators, however, warn the leads they have dug up for the FBI and CIA to pursue are at times contradictory or circumstantial. U.S. intelligence and FBI investigators view the evidence of ties to Saudi intelligence as unclear, the officials said."

[Husker24]

As much as this disturbes me to say this and as disgusting as it is, if this is true and Bush gives the Saudies a pass on it, then I hope the Democrats make a hell of a big deal about it. Because someone sure as hell should.

[MJY1288]

I wouldn't believe anything from Debka, if these stories are based off anything Debka has printed, this is most likely bunk

[Husker24]

Perhaps we do need to "liberate" the people of Saudia Arabia.

These people dont want to be liberated, the run of the mill people are even more psycotic than the government.