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American Morning
Are Roots of Terrorism Woven in Fabric of Saudi Society?
Aired October 04, 2002 - 08:52 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Officially, Saudi Arabia is a partner in the war on terror, but it was also home to Osama bin Laden and some of his most ardent followers. Are the roots of terrorism woven in the fabric of Saudi society? Well, in the final part of our series, "Inside Saudi Arabia," national security correspondent David Ensor looks at that country's role in the fight against terrorism.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID ENSOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The fact that 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudis raised new questions many American minds. Could Saudi Arabia be relied on in the war against terrorism? Is it a breeding ground for terrorists?
MATT LEYITT, FMR. FBI ANALYST: The issue of Saudi tolerance of incitement toward, participation in international terrorism has been at the forefront of our foreign policy discourse for over a year now.
ENSOR: Many Saudi leaders suspect tension between Riyad and Washington was one of the goal of Saudi-born Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda in the September 11th attacks.
WYCHE FOWLER, FMR. U.S. AMB. TO SAUDI ARABIA: The prevalent theory in the midst of this investigation in Saudi Arabia is that bin Laden deliberately chose Saudis to fly those planes in order to do a double whammy, so to speak, on America as the victim, but also on Saudi Arabia as somehow the perpetrator.
ENSOR: President Bush has worked since 9/11 to maintain and build the kind of close, but discrete, workings relation the two nations have had for 60 years. A former U.N. ambassador says Saudi Arabia has done a lot before and since September 11th to fight terrorism, much more than people realize.
FOWLER: There is much to be done, but much is being done that, quite frankly, the Saudis are not getting credit for, because it's basically done in secret.
ENSOR: But critics charge Saudi-funded schools, madrasas (ph), still teach hatred of Christians, Jews and other brands of Islam, and that money from wealthy Saudis is still reaching groups with known ties to Al Qaeda.
Ali Al-Ahmed is a Saudi dissident living in the U.S.
ALI AL-AHMED, SAUDI DISSIDENT: The people who are suspected of funding Al Qaeda and operation similar to it are still operating normally, and they have not been stopped, you know, in large part because they are very close to the government and sometime members of the government and members of the royal family.
ENSOR: Saudi officials say that charge is false. They note bin Laden declared war on the Saudi monarchy even before the United States.
While Bush administration officials publicly praise the Saudis for their work against terrorism, present and former CIA and FBI officials privately say the Saudis do not always sayer their sense of urgency and do not always acknowledge that their schools and their money may be part of the problem.
David Ensor, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired October 4, 2002 - 08:52 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Officially, Saudi Arabia is a partner in the war on terror, but it was also home to Osama bin Laden and some of his most ardent followers. Are the roots of terrorism woven in the fabric of Saudi society? Well, in the final part of our series, "Inside Saudi Arabia," national security correspondent David Ensor looks at that country's role in the fight against terrorism.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID ENSOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The fact that 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudis raised new questions many American minds. Could Saudi Arabia be relied on in the war against terrorism? Is it a breeding ground for terrorists?
MATT LEYITT, FMR. FBI ANALYST: The issue of Saudi tolerance of incitement toward, participation in international terrorism has been at the forefront of our foreign policy discourse for over a year now.
ENSOR: Many Saudi leaders suspect tension between Riyad and Washington was one of the goal of Saudi-born Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda in the September 11th attacks.
WYCHE FOWLER, FMR. U.S. AMB. TO SAUDI ARABIA: The prevalent theory in the midst of this investigation in Saudi Arabia is that bin Laden deliberately chose Saudis to fly those planes in order to do a double whammy, so to speak, on America as the victim, but also on Saudi Arabia as somehow the perpetrator.
ENSOR: President Bush has worked since 9/11 to maintain and build the kind of close, but discrete, workings relation the two nations have had for 60 years. A former U.N. ambassador says Saudi Arabia has done a lot before and since September 11th to fight terrorism, much more than people realize.
FOWLER: There is much to be done, but much is being done that, quite frankly, the Saudis are not getting credit for, because it's basically done in secret.
ENSOR: But critics charge Saudi-funded schools, madrasas (ph), still teach hatred of Christians, Jews and other brands of Islam, and that money from wealthy Saudis is still reaching groups with known ties to Al Qaeda.
Ali Al-Ahmed is a Saudi dissident living in the U.S.
ALI AL-AHMED, SAUDI DISSIDENT: The people who are suspected of funding Al Qaeda and operation similar to it are still operating normally, and they have not been stopped, you know, in large part because they are very close to the government and sometime members of the government and members of the royal family.
ENSOR: Saudi officials say that charge is false. They note bin Laden declared war on the Saudi monarchy even before the United States.
While Bush administration officials publicly praise the Saudis for their work against terrorism, present and former CIA and FBI officials privately say the Saudis do not always sayer their sense of urgency and do not always acknowledge that their schools and their money may be part of the problem.
David Ensor, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
