Posted on 09/19/2002 8:37:42 PM PDT by HAL9000
An Al-Qaïda banker, old countable of two princes saoudiens (lawyer)
Friday September 20, 2002 - 3h08 GMT
WASHINGTON, 19 seven (AFP) - the preparation of the attacks of September 11 was financed partly by a money bleaching through a network of fictitious companies in Saudi Arabia and in Spain controlled by an ex-accountant of a branch of the royal family saoudienne, affirmed Thursday a lawyer of the close relations of the victims of the attacks.
Mohammed Galeb Kalaje Zouaydi, a Spaniard of Syrian origin, stopped last April in Spain, is regarded as the "Al-Qaïda Minister of Finance" in Europe, one specified of the same source.
"the money which was used to prepare the attacks of September 11 from Saudi Arabia", declared with the AFP Jean-Charles Brisard, one of lawyers of the families of the victims of September 11 which brought in August in the United States a judicial action with civil against financial supposed Al Qaïda.
These new revelations, which will be made public at the time of a press conference in New York Friday, are pressed on documents of investigation establish by the Spanish authorities following the dismantling of a supposed Al-Qaïda cell in Spain.
Those indicate that Zouaydi was in the center of a system of money bleaching being used to finance the Al-Qaïda networks in Europe, specified lawyer.
"One knows thanks to the investigation of the Spaniards that Zouaydi lived in Saudi Arabia of 1996 to 2001, where it assembled many private companies which received donations", it explained, specifying that the origin of these donations were not yet known.
"This money was transferred to height from a million from dollars by fictitious contracts towards companies created and controlled by him in Spain from where it was redistributed towards Al-Qaïda members in Europe, in particular the cell of Hamburg" in Germany, affirmed Mr. Brisard, author of a report published in 2001 on the Al-Qaïda financing and which is also consulting commission of the information of the American Senate.
The cell of Hamburg included/understood the principal members of the commandos author of the attacks of September 11, of which its head Mohammed Atta and the coordinator Ramzi Ben Al-Shaibah, stopped last week in Pakistan.
This traffic of money bleaching, via these Spanish companies specialized in the real estate and the construction industry, would have related to at least 2,5 million additional dollars whose no trace was found by the Spanish authorities.
"One of associated Spanish companies of Zouaydi, a Syrian of Spanish nationality Ghassoub Al Abrash Ghalyoun, went to make locations of World Trade Center in 1997. One has eight video cassettes rounds at this time which were seized in Spain ", affirmed Mr. Brisard.
In addition, another associate of Zouaydi had memorized on his portable telephone the number of the apartment of Mohammed Atta in Hamburg.
However, according to lawyer, Zouaydi lived in Saudi Arabia, where it had industrial relationships with part of the royal family saoudienne.
"Zouaydi, which was the head of Al-Qaïda bridge in Europe, lived in Saudi Arabia of 1996 to 2001 and he was the accountant of branch Al-Fayçal of the royal family saoudienne, whose prince Mohammed Al-Faycal Al-Saoud and prince Turki Al-Fayçal Al-Saoud", affirmed Mr. Brisard.
Prince Mohammed, businessmen and director of Fayçal Islamic Bank, and prince Turki, former head of the secret service saoudiens, appears in company of prince Sultan Ben Abdel Aziz Al-Saoud, Minister for the Defense of the kingdom, among the individuals by name noted in the complaint deposited in August by the close relations of the victims of the attacks of September 11.
The complaint pleads in particular that prince Turki agreed into 1998 not to ask for the extradition of Oussama Ben Laden of Afghanistan and provided a "generous help" to the talibans, in exchange of the agreement of Ben Laden not to use Afghanistan as bases operations to destabilize the mode wahabite.
The lawyer recognized however that Mohammed Zouaydi had been able perfectly to make function its system without the knowledge of the princes saoudiens. "It is however extremely disconcerting", pointed out Mr. Brisard.
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