Saudi royal family pays 'protection money' to bin-Laden

Jerusalem Post ^ | Aug. 25, 2002 | DOUGLAS DAVIS

[GaryMontana]

LONDON - Senior members of the Saudi royal family paid "protection money" totaling at least $300 million to Osama bin-Laden and the Taliban to prevent them from attacking targets in Saudi Arabia, the London Sunday Times reported yesterday.

The revelation, based on extensive investigations, was contained in papers filed in a $3,000 billion US lawsuit by lawyers representing the families of Sept. 11 victims.

According to the documents, the deal was struck after two secret meetings involving members of the Saudi royal family and al-Qaida leaders, including bin-Laden.

The cash enabled al-Qaida to fund training camps in Afghanistan that are said to have been attended by the Sept. 11 bombers.

The court documents reveal that the agreement committed bin- Laden not to use his forces to subvert the Saudi government, while the Saudis agreed to ensure that requests to extradite al- Qaida members and demands to close al-Qaida training camps were not carried out.

In addition, the Saudis agreed to supply oil and financial assistance to both the Taliban and Pakistan which, the documents report, was worth "several hundred millions" of dollars.

The revelations resulting from the investigation are likely to exacerbate already tense relations between the US and Saudi Arabia, which one analyst at the Washington-based Rand think-tank recently described at a Pentagon briefing as the "kernel of evil."

The document names the Saudi royals involved in the deal and provides details about the network of charities and businesses through which bin- Laden raised money.

The documents say the Saudi princes were informed about attacks by Islamic fundamentalists on American servicemen at a US army training facility in Riyadh in November 1995 and at the Khobar Towers barracks in June 1996, in which 19 US airmen died.

The princes decided to strike a deal with bin-Laden because they feared that al-Qaida, which opposed the presence of US troops in Saudi Arabia, would show its displeasure by attempting to destabilize the kingdom.

The documents say Saudi Arabia's secret service, the Istakhbarat, had decided in late 1995 to fund the Taliban and the initial decision to pay bin-Laden "protection money" was agreed at a meeting of the Saudi princes in 1996.

A further meeting in the Afghan city of Kandahar in July 1998 led to the deal between Saudi Arabia and the Taliban.

According to the documents, those present included Prince Turki al-Faisal al-Saud, then chief of the Istakhbarat, Taliban leaders, senior officers from Pakistan's secret service and bin- Laden.

Turki was said to have known bin-Laden well through family connections and also because he had hand-picked bin-Laden in the early 1980s to organize Arab volunteers who were fighting Soviet troops in Afghanistan.

The lawsuit also alleges that the Saudi royal family supported charities with close ties to bin-Laden, including a $6 million gift from Saudi Defense Minister Prince Sultan, to the International Islamic Relief Organization, al-Haramain, the Muslim World League and the World Assembly of Muslim Youth.

[GaryMontana]

Imange that the the Saudi Royal Family, Muslim youth, International Islamic Relief Organization and others are giving money to bin-Laden to kill Americans.

Justice dictates that we do onto them what they have done to US.

Time to seize Saudi Arabian oil fields to pay for the 9/11 disaster, along with making sure we don't need to open Anwar for oil. Seize military facilities, and nationalize all Saudi assets.

[July 4th]

We're about the start the second wave. The Saudis need to be on the list. Let's rid the world of this plague, and do it by cutting off its head - the money.

[madrastex]

Wonder how the talks with the Saudi official are going to be like when he gets down to Crawford?Love to be fly on the wall!

[Arthur McGowan]

About one-sixth of the world's population is the victim of a mass delusion, Islam. Not all of them are dangerous, but virtually all of them who exercise power, political or financial, are.

[hoosierboy]

I am sure our intelligence had known this for months if this is just now coming out. I just wonder if this was brought up at the meeting we had with the saudis we had a few weeks ago. I mean what the h*ll are we waiting for. If true, I think we have the smoking gun. Now lets just see if we act upon it.

[river rat]

The House of Saud is the diseased old whore that suckles and sustains radical/militant Islam... Wahhabism

The treacherous two faced lying bitch has earned our hatred, and deserves to feel the wrath of a brutal American vengeance. Semper Fi

[Thane_Banquo]

"Protection money."

Riiiiiight. Is that the Saudi word for block grants?

[Ciexyz]

Let the details come out.

[Dialup Llama]

>Wonder how the talks with the Saudi official are going to be like when he gets down to Crawford?Love to be fly on the wall!

Not good, I'd guess. I think Bush was pissed when the Prince pidgeon-holed him into seeing that pro-Pali progadana video. I suspect this time Bush is going to read the Prince the riot act.

[Kermit]

Partition Saudi Arabia.

We could use cheap oil to jump start the economy and then the Euroweenies would shut up, because their constituents would be happy.

[Mr. Mojo]

Gee, what a surprise --- The origin of al-Qaeda dollars is the wallet of the U.S. taxpayer. We buy oil from Islamo-terrorist financiers (The House of Saud), they in turn use that money to pay off our Islamo-terrorist enemies, and our enemies use that money to kill us.

[Brian Mosely]

Hmm...here we have this revelation about the funds...and Gertz is appearing on ABC's This Week tomorrow to say who knows what. Things could get quite interesting.

[GaryMontana]

I can only hope things get real interesting

[Brimack34]

I heard the Saudis had about 600 billion dollars in the U.S.
Is that why we do not go after them?

[gPal]

i have consistently spoken against war...although this piece is possibly propaganda...i feel that there is enuf truth available to us that i am finally convinced that war with iraq is a necessity...i would just like to see President Bush wait until the draft has been in place long enuf to be sure that we have more than enuf troops trained to go ahead and take SA as well as iran...we don't appear to have a choice...by the by...what the hell is wrong with colin powell...he must get on board or go ahead and resign...or the president should fire him...should we take SA and their oil fiedlds first and then take out hussein? a case could be made...

[crazykatz]

The money that they have in the USA should be frozen....and, then, let's watch the saudis squirm!!

[Mitchell]

In addition, the Saudis agreed to supply oil and financial assistance to both the Taliban and Pakistan which, the documents report, was worth "several hundred millions" of dollars.
...
A further meeting in the Afghan city of Kandahar in July 1998 led to the deal between Saudi Arabia and the Taliban.
According to the documents, those present included Prince Turki al-Faisal al-Saud, then chief of the Istakhbarat, Taliban leaders, senior officers from Pakistan's secret service and bin- Laden.

If Pakistan (or the ISI) took protection money (plus sanctuary for al-Qaeda members) in exchange for a promise of no attacks, that's very telling. We keep getting hints about Pakistan's role in the events of last Fall.

[Robert_Paulson2]

Don't american companies do this with Jessie Jackson's organization...that is, pay him protection money for not filing frivolous law suits against them in federal courts?

Terrorist activity of this kind is nothing new.... protection scams are really old hat, just ask jessie.

[Robert_Paulson2]

no no no... they don't get it from us... they get it from the teenage baby sitter who smokes marijuana twice a week... I know, because they told me when I was drinkin muh beeir, watchun the superbolll....