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CNN Sunday Morning
FBI Investigates Saudi Government's Connection to 9/11
Aired November 24, 2002 - 09:01 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.
RENAY SAN MIGUEL, CNN ANCHOR: Let's get more now on the FBI investigation of the Saudi government and the September 11 terrorist attacks. The administration officials say the Saudis are cooperating fully. At the White House this morning, our Frank Buckley. He's got more on this story. Good morning, Frank.
FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Renay. You're right. Senior administration officials saying that the Saudi government is cooperating. And sources are cautioning that there is no evidence, no conclusive evidence that the Saudi government in any way directly funded terror activities against the U.S.
What is being investigated is whether money from the wife of the Saudi ambassador to the U.S., Princess Haifa al-Faisal, somehow sent money or somehow money from her got to two hijackers who were living in California in the weeks leading up to the terror activities here in the U.S. The two hijackers in question were involved in the Pentagon hijacking. That was flight 77.
An inquiry by the House/Senate Joint Intelligence Committee suggests there is evidence that Khalid Almidhar and Nawaf Alhazmi did receive money from the Saudi government that came via two Saudi students who were in the U.S. But a foreign policy adviser to the Saudi crown prince tells CNN that the Saudi princess never sent money directly to the hijackers, but rather sent money to a woman who was on her charity recipient list and that money then somehow got to the two students.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ADEL AL-JUBEIR, ADVISER TO SAUDI CROWN PRINCE: Al Qaeda's objective is to come after Saudi Arabia as much as it is to come after the U.S., and the last thing we would do is fund people whose objective is to murder us. What you have here is a situation where it's being exaggerated for political purposes, and the evidence just does not bear this out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BUCKLEY: Now, Congress is preparing a report that suggests or at least looks into the idea that the FBI did not aggressively pursue leads that would take them to the Saudi government and any potential involvement of the Saudi government in the terror activities against the U.S. on September 11. Officials deny the charge, but they also are not commenting, because it is an ongoing investigation -- Renay. SAN MIGUEL: And I wanted to examine, if I could, a little bit more on that particular issue. The Saudis have said that the FBI investigated this matter six months ago and that the Saudi embassy at that time cooperated with them fully, and they thought that was the end of the matter. And now you have this joint House/Senate Intelligence Committee finding on this. I am wondering if you are hearing if there is any more criticism of what the FBI was investigating six months ago and why apparently at that time the trail didn't go any farther.
BUCKLEY: Well, it may be that the some of the investigators that are just now getting some of this information on the congressional side are bringing this out. And the White House position on this is, is, look, this has been investigated. The Saudi government is cooperating fully. And the administration view is that the FBI is not in a position to comment on this right now because it is an ongoing investigation.
SAN MIGUEL: And the U.S. government is saying -- some of the officials are saying, that, you know, it is not unusual for wealthy Saudi families, including the royals, to send money to Saudis living here in the U.S.
BUCKLEY: Absolutely. Renay, and that apparently often takes place through the Saudi embassy. You have less affluent students who are here in the U.S., and it is a common practice, we are told, for wealthy Saudis to funnel that money to those less affluent students via the embassy. So that is another one of the links that is being investigated.
SAN MIGUEL: All right. Thank you for your time. Frank Buckley, our White House correspondent, joining us this morning from Washington.
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 November 24, 2002 - 09:01 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RENAY SAN MIGUEL, CNN ANCHOR: Let's get more now on the FBI investigation of the Saudi government and the September 11 terrorist attacks. The administration officials say the Saudis are cooperating fully. At the White House this morning, our Frank Buckley. He's got more on this story. Good morning, Frank.
FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Renay. You're right. Senior administration officials saying that the Saudi government is cooperating. And sources are cautioning that there is no evidence, no conclusive evidence that the Saudi government in any way directly funded terror activities against the U.S.
What is being investigated is whether money from the wife of the Saudi ambassador to the U.S., Princess Haifa al-Faisal, somehow sent money or somehow money from her got to two hijackers who were living in California in the weeks leading up to the terror activities here in the U.S. The two hijackers in question were involved in the Pentagon hijacking. That was flight 77.
An inquiry by the House/Senate Joint Intelligence Committee suggests there is evidence that Khalid Almidhar and Nawaf Alhazmi did receive money from the Saudi government that came via two Saudi students who were in the U.S. But a foreign policy adviser to the Saudi crown prince tells CNN that the Saudi princess never sent money directly to the hijackers, but rather sent money to a woman who was on her charity recipient list and that money then somehow got to the two students.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ADEL AL-JUBEIR, ADVISER TO SAUDI CROWN PRINCE: Al Qaeda's objective is to come after Saudi Arabia as much as it is to come after the U.S., and the last thing we would do is fund people whose objective is to murder us. What you have here is a situation where it's being exaggerated for political purposes, and the evidence just does not bear this out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BUCKLEY: Now, Congress is preparing a report that suggests or at least looks into the idea that the FBI did not aggressively pursue leads that would take them to the Saudi government and any potential involvement of the Saudi government in the terror activities against the U.S. on September 11. Officials deny the charge, but they also are not commenting, because it is an ongoing investigation -- Renay. SAN MIGUEL: And I wanted to examine, if I could, a little bit more on that particular issue. The Saudis have said that the FBI investigated this matter six months ago and that the Saudi embassy at that time cooperated with them fully, and they thought that was the end of the matter. And now you have this joint House/Senate Intelligence Committee finding on this. I am wondering if you are hearing if there is any more criticism of what the FBI was investigating six months ago and why apparently at that time the trail didn't go any farther.
BUCKLEY: Well, it may be that the some of the investigators that are just now getting some of this information on the congressional side are bringing this out. And the White House position on this is, is, look, this has been investigated. The Saudi government is cooperating fully. And the administration view is that the FBI is not in a position to comment on this right now because it is an ongoing investigation.
SAN MIGUEL: And the U.S. government is saying -- some of the officials are saying, that, you know, it is not unusual for wealthy Saudi families, including the royals, to send money to Saudis living here in the U.S.
BUCKLEY: Absolutely. Renay, and that apparently often takes place through the Saudi embassy. You have less affluent students who are here in the U.S., and it is a common practice, we are told, for wealthy Saudis to funnel that money to those less affluent students via the embassy. So that is another one of the links that is being investigated.
SAN MIGUEL: All right. Thank you for your time. Frank Buckley, our White House correspondent, joining us this morning from Washington.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
