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87 of 295 DOCUMENTS Content and programming copyright 2002 Cable News Network Transcribed under license by eMediaMillWorks, Inc. (f/k/a Federal Document Clearing House, Inc.). Formatting Copyright 2002 eMediaMillWorks, Inc. (f/k/a Federal Document Clearing House, Inc.). All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to Cable News Network. This transcript may not be copied or resold in any media.

CNN SHOW: CNN LIVE EVENT/SPECIAL 10:00 December 3, 2002 Tuesday Transcript # 120301CN.V54

SECTION: News; International LENGTH: 8072 words HEADLINE: Saudi Arabian Press Conference on Terror Investigation BYLINE: Leon Harris, Andrea Koppel HIGHLIGHT: The Saudi Arabian press conference on their terror investigation. BODY: LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Saudi Arabia talks about its role on the war on terrorism. Now, any minute now, officials are set to release a report detailing what the kingdom has done, and says will do, to track money from its citizens. This is in answer to critics who say that Saudi efforts have been ineffective to this point and insincere as well. This news conference is set to get under way any time this hour — as you see, there's a live picture that we have set up — and we'll go there once it gets under way. Now, for more on what we can expect to hear at this news conference, let's bring in our State Department correspondent, Andrea Koppel. She is following the story for us in Washington. Good morning ~ Andrea. ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Leon. Well, as you know, anybody who has picked up a paper in the last week or turned on the television has seen reports which allege that the man who is the top diplomat in this building here at the Saudi embassy, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, and his wife, Princess Haifa, had been accused by unnamed U.S. officials of inadvertently supporting passing donations to individuals who ended up giving the money - may have given the money, in fact, to two of the 9/11 hijackers. It is in response to those reports, which the Saudi government adamantly denies, and in addition to a series of negative reports that have criticized the Saudi government for not doing enough to crack down on terrorism, in particular to crack down on the giving of money, of tithing of Saudi incomes to charitable organizations linked to terrorism that the Saudi government today decided to take the PR offensive.

82 of 295 DOCUMENTS Copyright 2002 News World Communications, Inc. The Washington Times December 4, 2002, Wednesday, Final Edition

SECTION: PAGE ONE; Pg. A01 LENGTH: 940 words HEADLINE: Saudis seek to cut cash flow to terrorists; U.S. critics of Riyadh angrily rejected BYLINE: By David R. Sands, THE WASHINGTON TIMES BODY: Saudi Arabia yesterday announced new controls on its Muslim charities to prevent the flow of funds to violent Islamist groups, as a top government spokesman angrily rejected criticisms that the oil-rich Gulf kingdom had not done enough in the global war against terrorism. U.S. critics of Saudi Arabia welcomed the proposed crackdown, but noted that past efforts to secure Saudi cooperation had foundered when the trail veered too close to supporters of the ruling royal family. Adel Al-Jubeir, foreign policy adviser to Crown Prince Abdullah, Saudi Arabia's de facto leader, condemned what he called a "feeding frenzy" of criticism in the United States directed at Saudi Arabia, saying the detractors were playing into the hands of Saudi-born terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden in driving a wedge between two longtime allies. "We believe very strongly that pointing fingers and assigning blame doesn't get us or you or the rest of the world anywhere," Mr. Al-Jubeir told a packed news conference at the Saudi Embassy. "What we need to do, as we have done, is join hands, wrack our brains together, and find ways to fight the scourge of terrorism." Mr. Al-Jubeir also told reporters that Saudi Arabia plans to name Prince Turki al-Faisal, the kingdom's former intelligence chief, as ambassador to Britain. He denied the appointment had anything to do with giving the prince diplomatic immunity to protect him from lawsuits stemming from the September 11 attacks. Relatives of about 900 people killed in the attacks on New York and Washington filed a civil lawsuit in the United States in August accusing three Saudi princes, including Prince Turki, as well as Saudi and foreign banks, of funding bin Laden. Officially, the Bush administration has praised Saudi cooperation in the wake of the September 11 attacks, in which 15 of the 19 hijackers carried Saudi passports. "Our view has been all along that Saudi Arabia has been very cooperative in terms of the war on terrorism prior to and certainly since September 11," said State Department deputy spokesman Philip Reeker, who welcomed the news of tighter controls over Saudi financial flows. Mr. Al-Jubeir said U.S. and Saudi officials also will "reinvigorate" a joint counterterrorism committee that will meet in Washington next month to assess the state of financial, intelligence and legal cooperation in the fight against terrorism.

Saudi Official Says Saudi Arabia is "Mobilized" to Fight Terrorism

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U.S. D E P A R T M E N T OF SIATE

I N T E R N A T I O N A L INFORMATION P R O G R A M S International Security | Terrorism

12 June 2003

Saudi Official Says Saudi Arabia is "Mobilized" to Fight Terrorism Says religious, financial and education reforms are underway By Charles Hays Burchfield Washington File Staff Writer Washington — The foreign affairs advisor to Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdulaziz AlSaud, Adel Al-Jubeir, said Saudi Arabia is doing "everything possible" to fight terrorism. "The attacks in Saudi Arabia represented a major jolt, and they've brought out the determination by Saudis to ensure that we can do everything possible to prevent such murders from happening in our country again," Al-Jubeir said at a news conference in the Saudi Arabian embassy in Washington June 12. The news conference was held exactly one month after four suicide car bombings by al-Qaeda terrorists killed 35 people and injured about 200 at housing compounds for Westerners in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Al-Jubeir said the attacks have "galvanized" and "mobilized" the government of Saudi Arabia to "go after the terrorists and bring them to justice." He said the Saudi government has detained over 25 people in connection with the bombing and has questioned "scores of people." He also said the Saudi government has sought help from a number of countries including the United States, has started to root out extremism in Saudi mosques, is moving to close the door on terrorist financing and money laundering and has taken steps to improve the Saudi educational system. Al-Jubeir said Saudi authorities have questioned over 1,000 people since the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001 and have detained about 300 Al-Qaeda members, approximately 100 of whom are awaiting court trials in the country. In addition to arresting Al-Qaeda members, Saudi Arabian officials have arrested three clerics who preached hatred and intolerance, according to Al-Jubeir. "We have looked more intensely in terms of what is being said in our mosques and trying to curb incitement," Al-Jubeir said. He said over the last few months Saudi Arabia has dismissed several hundred imams for "straying out of the bounds of religion and/or engaging in political activity." AlJubeir said the government has referred over 1,000 imams to educational programs in order to teach them "about their role and what is permissible and what is not permissible so that we can eliminate extremism, intolerance and radicalism from our

http://usinfo.state.gov/topical/pol/terror/texts/03061209.htm

6/24/03

Saudi Arabia, press releases, 06/12/03: SAMA implements new regulations regarding cha... Page 1 of 2

f XT PRESS RELEASES

Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia Information Office Washington, D.C.

CURRENT NEWS

PRESS RELEASE June 12, 2003

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STATEMENTS AND SPEECHES

SAUDI ARABIAN MONETARY AGENCY IMPLEMENTS NEW REGULATIONS REGARDING CHARITIES

[Washington, DC] -- The Head Office of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) recently distributed a circular to all banks and financial institutions in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia requiring the full and immediate implementation of nine new policies and procedures that relate to the accounts of charitable and welfare institutions. SAMA Governor Hamad Saud Al Sayyari issued the following order in regard to the updated directives: "These rules and instructions are to be implemented immediately upon receipt of this circular, and SAMA is to be informed on the actions taken." According to Ambassador to the United States Prince Bandar bin Sultan, "Charitable funds can no longer go outside of Saudi Arabia without strict government oversight and control." The new policies and procedures have been implemented to ensure that funds meant for charitable purposes are not misappropriated. For example, all bank accounts of a charitable or welfare society must be identified and consolidated into a single account for each such society; and deposits in these accounts will be accepted only after the depositor provides the bank with identification and all other required information for verification. No charitable or welfare society can open or operate these bank accounts without first presenting a valid copy of the required license. Cash withdrawals from such accounts are strictly prohibited. Ambassador Prince Bandar bin Sultan declared: "We have closed the door on the possibility for charitable giving to be misappropriated for illegal purposes." In another memo issued by SAMA's Head Office regarding its Rules Governing Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Terrorist Financing, the Agency states: "SAMA intends to-verify the implementation of these rules by Saudi banks through the Agency's onsite inspections, receipt of regular compliance reports and certification by external auditors." The rules incorporate the Banking Control Law, all of SAMA's regulations, the FATF 40 Recommendations, the FATF 8 Special Recommendations on Terrorist Financing, and all relevant UN Security Council Resolutions. Saudi Arabia remains determined to combat and bankrupt

http://saudiembassy.net/press_release/releases/03-PR-0612-S AMA.htm

6/24/03

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Date: Tue, 1 Jul 2003 11:30:03 -0400 From: "" <[email protected]>4P To: "" 4P Cc: "" <[email protected]>4f Subject: article of possible interest..

Financial war on terrorism suffers from agency rivalry Effort to cut cash flow stymied by lack of cooperation and evidence, turf battles LOS ANGELES TIMES Originally published Sunday, April 7, 2002 WASHINGTON -- The U.S. government's much-touted financial war on terrorism has been hamstrung by bitter turf battles among federal agencies, questionable evidence against targeted Middle Eastern groups and a lack of cooperation by foreign allies, senior government officials said. In recent months, President Bush and his top Cabinet members have hailed the U.S. government's effort to "shut down the money pipeline" as a vital component of United States counterterrorism strategy. But privately, some administration officials are saying the strategy isn't working as advertised. "You read the papers and it seems like everything is going great," said one senior law enforcement official. "But this is no way to run an investigation. And the worst part is that this is the biggest case in existence. And so much is at stake." Range of woes Debate over the problems has occurred at the highest levels, according to interviews with more than dozen law enforcement, intelligence and counterterrorism officials familiar with the financial crackdown. Many of them say a number of financial crackdowns on groups with suspected terrorist ties were launched prematurely or lacked evidence. They add that the United States is receiving far less cooperation than it needs from many allied nations, which have pledged to help choke off the terrorist money supply but lack the political will, technical know-how and legal framework to make that happen. Some officials involved in implementing the Patriot Act, which granted authorities broader powers to track suspected terrorist money, are now saying it is too unwieldy and unrealistic.

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7/3/03

Saudi Arabia, press releases, 06/18/03: money launderers to be severely punished...

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"X"" PRESS RELEASES CURRENT NEWS

Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia Information Office Washington, B.C.

PRESS RELEASE June 18, 2003

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MONEY LAUNDERERS TO BE SEVERELY PUNISHED [Washington, DC] ~ The Consultative Council has approved new legislation which puts in place harsh penalties for the crime of money laundering. The law consists of 29 articles and stipulates jail sentences of up to 15 years and a fine of more than $1.5 million for anyone laundering money through charities. Other money-laundering offenses are punishable by up to 10 years in jail and a fine of $1.3 million. Adel Al-Jubeir, Foreign Affairs Advisor to Crown Prince Abdullah stated: "The new legislation will serve as a deterrent as well as facilitate our ability to monitor criminal financial transactions." The new legislation strengthens law enforcement by including bans on any commercial or financial transactions in which the parties involved are unidentified; requiring financial institutions to keep records of all transactions for a minimum of 10 years; and allowing the exchange of information between the Kingdom and other countries regarding money laundering operations.

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http://saudiembassy.net/press_release/releases/03-PR-0618-moneylaundering.htm

6/24/03

washingtonpost.com: Report: Terror Funds Row Through Saudi Arabia

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washingtonpost.com

Report: Terror Funds Flow Through Saudi Arabia Fundraising by Al Qaeda Sympathizers Continues Unabated in the Kingdom By Douglas Farah Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, October 16, 2002; 7:43 PM

The Bush administration's efforts to cut off funds for international terrorism are destined to fail until it confronts Saudi Arabia, whose leaders have tolerated some of its wealthy citizens raising millions of dollars a year for al Qaeda, according to a new report from an influential foreign policy organization. The report from the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations, scheduled for release today, contends that the administration must pressure the Saudis-as well as other governments - to crack down on terror financing, even at the risk of sparking a public backlash that could jeopardize the Saudi government. "It is worth stating clearly and unambiguously what official U.S. government spokespersons have not," the report notes. "For years, individuals and charities based in Saudi Arabia have been the most important source of funds for al Qaeda, and for years the Saudi officials have turned a blind eye to this problem." Administration criticism of Saudi Arabia, the top oil supplier to the United States and a crucial ally if the Bush administration takes military action against Iraq, has been largely muted since the Sept. 11 attacks, despite the belief of many law enforcement and intelligence officials here and abroad that al Qaeda relies on wealthy Saudis for most of its funding. Earlier this year, however, relations became strained when a defense consultant told a Penatagon advisory committee that Saudis were active at all levels of the terror chain..«.a ;ir

The Saudi government had no immediate response to the report. Its embassy in Washington put out a statement praising U.S.-Saudi cooperation in freezing terrorist assets and cracking down on charities, saying the support and financing of terrorism "cannot be tolerated." But the report drew a sharp rebuttal from the Bush administration. Robert Nichols, the Treasury Department's deputy assistant secretary for public affairs, said the report was "seriously flawed" and that his department considered it a "Clinton-era snapshot of what al Qaeda looked like in 1999 or 2000" without taking into account the new resources and strategies to combat terror financing. "We are not claiming victory, we are not spiking the football, but we are off to a good start," Nichols said. Administration officials said they were angry that Treasury and other agencies had not been invited to brief the panel. But Maurice R. Greenberg, the panel's chairman, said that in late August the council extended a written invitation to the NSC to address the group and an oral invitation to Treasury. Both were declined, he said. The report, prepared by a bipartisan panel of financial and terrorism experts, reveals no new details about U.S. or Saudi efforts to staunch terror funding. But it plainly asserts what many officials have said

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A36948-2002Octl6?language=printer

5/27/03

) Saudi mea culpa By Arnaud de Borchgrave THE WASHINGTON TIMES The 24,000-strong Saudi royal family has finally conceded that the root cause of Islamist terrorism has been its own Wahhabi ideology. It was Wahhabism that spawned Osama Bin Laden and his al Qaeda. The 1979 "concordat" between the House of Saud and the kingdom's clergy has now been breached. Following the al Qaeda suicide bombings of apartment buildings in Riyadh on May 12 that killed 35, including eight Americans, Saudi security and intelligence organizations reported what the royal family was loath to hear: Almost 1,000 Saudi clerics are either linked to, or in sympathy with, al Qaeda. They have been fired or banned from addressing worshippers after Friday prayers. Acting in the name of King Fahd, who is too ill to rule, Crown Prince Abdullah has issued new regulations prohibiting any reference to jihad, or holy war, in radio and television broadcasts. The royals are also drafting new regulations that the Wahhabi clergy will most probably consider sacrilegious. The new rules would actually remove elements of Wahhabi doctrine — Islam's strictest interpretation of the Koran — as it is presently taught in mosques and schools around the kingdom. Security chiefs of the 22 Arab League nations, meeting in Tunis last week, quickly agreed on the existence of a direct link between al Qaeda terrorist attacks and a clergy that promotes holy war in holy places. Mohammed bin Al Kuman, chairman of the Arab League's council of interior (internal security) ministers, said the most urgent need was for moderate clerics who can see that Islam has been hijacked by extremists who preach hatred of the United States and Israel in particular, Western values in general. President Bush has repeated frequently since September 11 that the United States is not at war with Islam. But radical Islam is very much at war with the United States. And Arab governments have now decided to face the challenge. The Saudi clergy has sent Wahhabi clerics as missionaries all over the world to build mosques and set up madrassas (Koranic schools that teach only religion, to the exclusion of all other disciplines). There are about 2,000 mosques in the United States, most of them started by Wahhabi clerics. In 1979, scores of Muslim terrorists seized the Grand Mosque in Mecca and kept Saudi security forces at bay for two weeks. Non-Muslims are not allowed anywhere near Mecca or Medina, so Saudi authorities deny to this day that French specialists were called in with sophisticated methods to subdue the Wahhabi rebellion. The Wahhabi revolutionaries had sought refuge in the catacombs. The French specialists advised them to flood them and then stick high voltage cables in the water. The clergy pledged in the "concordat" that followed the near disaster to refrain from criticizing the extravagant excesses of the royal family. In return, the House of Saud gave free rein to the Wahhabis — outside the kingdom. In Pakistan, they took advantage of the Saudi-U.S.-Pakistani entente to drive the Soviets out of Afghanistan to set up a string of madrassas along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. The idea, first proposed by Gen. Zia ul-Haq, the late dictator of Pakistan, was to build an ideological barrier against what was then perceived to be the threat of Soviet expansionism through Baluchistan to the Arabian Sea. Following the withdrawal of Soviet forces from Afghanistan in February 1989, the Saudi Wahhabis lavished some $300 million a year on building a network of several thousand madrassas, from Peshawar to Islamabad, Lahore, and Karachi and hundreds of towns and villages along the way. From Pakistani madrassas, young Muslim men from some 30 countries, went on to Afghanistan for training in al Qaeda's camps. Those who showed more promise for intellectual pursuits stayed on an additional two years to qualify as imams and mullahs. The University for the Education of Truth, a leading madrassa in Khattak nearfPeshawar, graduated nine out of Taliban's top 10 leaders. With a student body of 2,500, the institution is fully funded by the Saudi clergy and wealthy Saudis. Its president, Sami ul-Haq, is now a prominent member of the MMA — a coalition of six political-religious parties that governs the Northwest Frontier Province, shares power in Baluschistan and holds 20 percent of the seats in the National Assembly in Islamabad. Mr. Sami is a close friend of Osama Bin Laden. U.S. aid to Pakistan includes some $100 million over five years to reform the madrassas and revise the curriculum to include other disciplines besides religion. A small number of these schools have gone along with reform; the overwhelming majority of religious teachers have told the authorities to butt out. Saudi Wahhabi money is still outspending U.S. aid to education reform by 10 to 1.

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Special Dispatch Series - No. 535 July 9, 2003

No.535

Saudi Editor-in-Chief Fired Following Criticism of Ibn Taymiyya, Spiritual Father of Wahhabism On May 27, 2003 , approximately two weeks after the suicide bombings in Riyadh , the editor-in-chief of the Saudi daily Al-Watan, Jama/ Khashoggi, was fired by order of the Saudi Information Ministry. At the time, no official reason was given for his dismissal. Al-Watan was founded in 2000, in the city ofAbha in the southern Saudi district of Asir, a district which is a major basis of support for Saudi Islamists. The cornerstone of the paper's building was laid by Crown Prince Abdallah, and its board of directors is headed by Prince Bandar bin Khaled AI-Faisal. The paper takes an independent line and demonstrates a stance considered liberal by Saudi standards. The newspaper's op-ed page reflects pluralism, and features articles expressing diverse opinions. The following offers a brief background of Khashoggi as well as excerpts from an op-ed published in Al-Watan which likely led to his dismissal: Editor-in-Chief Khashoggi Jamal Khashoggi served as the paper's editor-in-chief for only a few weeks; his previous position was as editor of the Saudi English-language weekly Arab News. Despite his brief tenure, he managed to arouse the ire of Saudi Islamist elements, both establishment and opposition, because of a series of articles condemning the Saudi government's Authority for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (i.e. the religious police). Following the publication of these articles, attacks were launched against Al-Watan by several Islamist websites which support bin Laden and oppose the Saudi regime. These websites also support the Saudi religious police, even though it is a government body. The websites featured a parody of the Al-Watan ("The Homeland") logo, that read instead Al-Wathan - "The Pagan Idol." The newspaper angered Islamists for other reasons as well. For example, it discussed women's issues such as identity cards and the right of women to drive cars. The result was a frequent turnover of editors-in-chief - Khashoggi was the third, though the paper has been in existence for less than three years. He was replaced by Tarek Ibrahim. It recently became known that the last straw that led to Khashoggi's termination was an op-ed on the Riyadh bombings that appeared in the May 22 edition; the op-ed criticized Ibn Taymiya (1268-1328), the spiritual father of Wahhabism, which is the Saudi kingdom's official stream of Islam. XI] 'The Words of Ibn Taymiya are the Real Problem' The following are excerpts from the article, titled "The Individual and the Homeland Are More Important than Ibn Taymiya," by Khaled AI-Ghanami: "It is

http://memri.org/bin/opener.cgi?Page=archives&ID=SP53503

8/6/03

3) Immigration Case in Virginia May Complicate Saudi-U.S. Ties By GLENN SIMPSON and DAVID S. CLOUD WALL STREET JOURNAL WASHINGTON -- The Justice Department secretly held for more than a month a man who managed some U.S. investments of a major Islamic charity sponsored by the Saudi government, turning up the heat on the charity as the Saudi government sought to help the U.S. interview terror suspects in Iran. Soliman Beheiri, who was indicted on immigration charges last week, also founded a real-estate firm where two U.S.-described supporters of terrorism allegedly made investments. Mr. Beheiri is being held as a material witness under a sealed U.S. grand-jury inquiry into a group of Saudibacked charities in northern Virginia, people familiar with the matter said. Investigators have evidence that funds from the charities may have flowed to alleged terrorism supporters, according to a search warrant. The case could become awkward because the Bush administration is relying on the Saudi government to help gain access to suspected senior al Qaeda members, including a son of terror leader Osama bin Laden. Saudi officials recently sought Iran's permission to meet a prisoner believed to be Saad bin Laden to verify his identity and possibly arrange a handover, according to two U.S. officials. The Bush administration also wants to apprehend Saef al Adel, another senior al Qaeda operative whom U.S. officials believe Iran has detained. But Washington has refused to open direct negotiations with Tehran. Saudis were reluctant to approach the Iranians about Saad bin Laden, who has been stripped of his Saudi citizenship. U.S. officials say Riyadh has moved to demonstrate its desire to cooperate against al Qaeda. Saudi efforts to arrange a handover of the Iranian al Qaeda prisoners, which include as many as eight Saudi nationals, haven't been successful. Iranian officials rejected Saudi proposals to provide DNA to verify the identity of the man believed to be Saad bin Laden, and Tehran said it would put some al Qaeda figures on trial. But Saudi officials hope to arrange a handover at least of the younger Mr. bin Laden, according to U.S. officials briefed on the discussions. Saad bin Laden, one of two sons of Osama bin Laden believed to be active in al Qaeda, has assumed a larger leadership role in the organization since other operatives have been rounded up or killed, a senior U.S. intelligence official said. On Thursday, in a move that could further complicate Washington's relationship with Riyadh, federal prosecutors in Virginia indicted Mr. Beheiri for unlawful procurement of naturalization, false statements and making a false oath to win U.S. residency. The charges are denied by Mr. Beheiri. His lawyer couldn't be reached for comment. Mr. Beheiri founded BMI Real Estate Development Inc., a small real-estate investment firm that operated in New Jersey and the Washington, D.C., area. Through BMI, Mr. Beheiri managed about $2 million in investments for the U.S. branch of the International Islamic Relief Organization, which is part of the Saudi government's primary vehicle for religious outreach, the Muslim World League. An IIRO branch in Pakistan was linked by the government there to al Qaeda operations, court records show. According to a U.S. government cable, IIRO's Philippine branch served as a front for al Qaeda operative Jamal Khalifa, Osama bin Laden's brother-in-law. The IIRO funds invested with Mr. Beheiri disappeared during the late 1990s. The U.S. branch of IIRO, called the Islamic Relief Organization, won a $2.1 million judgment against BMI. At that time, Mr. Beheiri was no longer paying his lawyer and had been thought to have left the country.

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Special Dispatch Series - No. 526 June 20, 2003

No.526

An Egyptian Journalist on the Connection Between Wahhabism and Terrorism Following the bombings in Riyadh on May 12, 2003, the deputy editor of the independent Egyptian weekly Roz AI-Yousef, Wael AI-Abrashi, who Is also an expert on Sunni terrorist movements, wrote several articles on Saudi Wahhabism and the development of Islamist terror. The following are excerpts from AI-Abrashi's article: A Wahhabi World View In an article published on May 31, 2003 in Roz AI-Yousef, AI-Abrashi wrote: "A Wahhabi Saudi sheikh warned young people not to speak English and not to try to study it. Me swallowed his saliva, wet his lips, and screamed: This is the language of the infidels, to the point where it has the word 'blease1 ['please'], which is derived from iblis [Satan]. This is the language of the devil...'" "Anyone can come and say that this sheikh does not represent all Wahhabis, but I will reply that most of the Wahhabi sheikhs have in the past forbidden the study of geography, English, philosophy, and drawing; besides that, what is the difference between what this Wahhabi sheikh said and the Fatwa of [Sheikh] Bin Baz - the [late] leader of Wahhabism - which stated that the planet Earth does not rotate?" AI-Qa'ida - A Saudi Wahhabi Organization "Wahhabism prohibits the woman from working, forbids her to drive a car, and bans democracy, treating it as a religion in addition to the religion of Allah. Wahhabism attributes great importance to the [outward] forms of Islam - growing a beard, ankle-length garments for men, and the requirement to use toothpicks instead of the satanic Western toothbrush. One Wahhabi leader. Sheikh bin 'Athimein, prohibited smoking, praying behind a smoker, shaving one's beard, praying behind a clean-shaven man, and wearing European clothing because it is polytheists' clothing..." "I say that this Wahhabism is incapable of establishing a modern state and incapable of spreading the values of tolerance that Islam has set out. On the contrary, this Wahhabism leads, as we have seen, to the birth of extremist, closed, and fanatical streams, that accuse others of heresy, abolish them, and destroy them. The extremist religious groups have moved from the stage of Takfir [1] to the stage of 'annihilation and destruction,1 in accordance with the strategy of AI-Qa'ida - which Saudi authorities must admit is a local Saudi organization that drew other organizations into it, and not the other way around. All the organizations emerged from under the robe of Wahhabism." 'Saudi Arabia Helped Perpetrators of Terror Attacks in Egypt, Beginning with Sadat's Assassination'

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8/6/03

Saudi Arabia, press releases, 08/13/03: statement on Al-Qaeda by Prince Bandar
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Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia Information Office Washington, B.C.

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PRESS RELEASE August 13, 2003

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STATEMENT ON AL-QAEDA BY PRINCE BANDAR [Washington DC] - Prince Bandar bin Sultan, Saudi Arabia's Ambassador to the United States, made the following statement today. "Saudi Arabia has recently broken up Al-Qaeda cells that were planning further attacks against the Kingdom and other targets. Al-Qaeda continues to seek to terrorize us, but they will not succeed. Our recent efforts have been extremely successful in rounding up scores of AlQaeda suspects. But we will not stop until this evil cult is uprooted and destroyed."

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http://www.saudiembassy.net/press_release/releases/03-PR-0813-Bandar-Alqaeda.htm

8/15/03

Arab News

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The Middle East's Leading English Language Daily Friday, 15, August, 2003 (17, Jumada ath-Thani, 1424)

PrintPage | Sympathizers Are Terrorists Too: Abdullah P.K. Abdul Ghafour • Arab News Staff —

JEDDAH, 15 August 2003 — Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard, yesterday vowed Saudi Arabia would triumph over evil in its war against terror. In an address to the nation, Prince Abdullah urged Saudis to give their full cooperation to the Kingdom-wide crackdown on militants, and warned that sitting on the fence was not an option. "In the decisive battle between the powers of good and evil, there is no place for neutrality and no room for stragglers. There is only one path open to honorable believers, which is to stand shoulder to shoulder against the corrupt aggressors in the holiest places on Earth — Makkah and Madinah," the crown prince said. Prince Abdullah warned the public against harboring suspected terrorists. "Those who protect or even just sympathize with terrorists are themselves terrorists, and they will receive their just punishment," the Saudi Press Agency quoted him as saying. "I am calling on every citizen to be a pillar of support to security officers, and to be the eyes, ears and hands of security officers," he said, and declared the Kingdom would emerge victorious in its war on terrorism. Prince Abdullah's comments followed a major gunbattle on Tuesday between Saudi security forces and suspected militants, the second clash in three days. Three policemen were killed and a militant and two policemen were injured in the Shootout in Riyadh's Al-Suwaidi district. Prince Abdullah called the security officers who died in the confrontation with militants "martyrs." He said the state would take care of their families and children. "Without your sacrifices, the terrorists would not have been defeated," the crown prince said in his speech in which he hailed the bravery displayed by Saudi security forces in the battle against militants. "This steadfast state will never forget the martyrs who died in defense of their faith and their nation. It will never forget the heroes injured on duty and the orphans whose fathers died in the battle of right against falsehood," he said. The Kingdom has stepped up its campaign against suspected militants following the triple suicide bombings at housing compounds in Riyadh on May 12 when 35 people, including nine terrorists, were killed. On Wednesday, Washington issued a new travel warning for Saudi Arabia, saying it had credible information of threats against American and Western interests, including civil aviation. Britain also said it had intelligence on security threats to British aviation interests in the Kingdom. The UK said it believed the gunmen in Sunday's battle might have been planning attacks on British interests. But Interior Minister Prince Naif denied the British report.

http://www.arabnews.com/services/print/print.asp?artid=30345&d=l 5&m=8&y=2003&hl=S... 8/15/03

August 13, 2003 Professor Richard Betts Leo A. Shifrin Professor of War and Peace Studies Political Science Department Columbia University 420 West 118th Street New York, NY 10027 Dear Professor Betts: The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States is directed by statute to investigate the facts and circumstances surrounding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. This includes the nation's preparedness for, and immediate response to, those attacks, as well as to evaluate the lessons learned and to make recommendations for preventing future attacks. As part of its investigation, the Commission hereby requests to interview you on issues relating to the following general topics: (1) the concept of surprise attack, and the conduct of warning within the U.S. Government; (2) the mission, organizational structure, and management of the U.S. Intelligence Community; and (3) analysis and collection of intelligence information for counterterrorism purposes. The Commission does not anticipate that classified information will be discussed at this interview. Mr. Gordon Lederman, a member of the Commission's professional staff, will conduct the interview. The Commission would like to conduct your interview on August 19,2003 at 9:00 a.m. at your office in New York City. At least two members of the Commission's staff will attend your interview. Please call Mr. Lederman's assistant, Ms. Melissa Coffey, at (202) 331-4080 as soon as possible to raise any other questions you may have. Thank you very much in advance for your time and for your cooperation with the Commission in this important matter. Sincerely,

Philip Zelikow Executive Director

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Op-Ed

U.S. Faces Dilemma on Saudi Policy By Michael Mandelbaum Newsday, July 30, 2003 The 28 pages the White House deleted from the 850-page report Congress released last week on the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, illustrate the most acute dilemma confronting American foreign policy: what to do about Saudi Arabia. None of the choices is entirely satisfactory. According to press accounts, the report's missing pages describe support provided by officials of the Saudi Arabian government to several of the hijackers of the airplanes that crashed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Critics have charged that the Bush administration has suppressed this section of the report out of fear that, in view of its close ties with the Saudi royal family, the administration would suffer embarrassment and political damage from revealing it. President George W. Bush met yesterday with Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal, but he refused to declassify the 28-page section - citing the need to protect intelligence sources. In truth, every American administration since that of Franklin D. Roosevelt has maintained close ties with the Saudi rulers, and for a single, simple reason: oil. The Saudi kingdom contains an estimated 25 percent of the world's easily accessible reserves of the petroleum that the American economy - and the economies of all industrialized countries - need to function. For six decades, the United States has maintained a bargain with the Saudi rulers: support for their regime in exchange for access to the oil they control. But the rule of the Saudi royal family rests on another, internal bargain. The regime has embraced as its official ideology a radical form of Islam known as Wahhabism, which preaches intolerance for, indeed hatred of, all others - Muslim and non-Muslim alike - who do not subscribe to its precepts. It is as if, says the eminent historian of the Mideast Bernard Lewis, the U.S. government were promoting the ideas of the Ku Klux Klan. The Wahhabi ideology pervades Saudi society. Both Saudi officials and private citizens have used the kingdom's oil wealth to promote Wahhabism all over the world. They sponsored the schools that taught the leaders of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, which welcomed the al-Qaida terrorist network on Afghan territory before being ousted by the United States in 2001, and funded mosques in Western Europe where al-Qaida operatives were recruited. Osama bin Laden and the 19 hijackers of Sept. 11 professed to be inspired by Wahhabi teachings. So the regime that the United States has faithfully supported presides over a society and sponsors organizations that produce anti-American terrorists, which creates a

http://www.cfr.org/publication_print.php?id=6178.xml&content=

8/22/03

Council on Foreign Relations - www.cfr.org

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dilemma for American policy makers. Opposing the Saudi regime might lead to its replacement by one even more unfriendly to the United States. But continuing support for the rulers in Riyadh while ignoring their official ideology, as in the past, risks allowing global terrorism to flourish. In response to this dilemma, three distinct courses of action are available. One involves reform in the Saudi kingdom. Some Saudi officials have expressed a commitment to reducing the power of the Wahhabi clerics, changing the educational curriculum and opening the political system to wider participation. American officials hope that if democracy is established in neighboring Iraq this will, by example, move other Arab countries in the direction of greater social tolerance and political openness. But the benign effects of a new Iraq will be felt slowly and gradually, if at all. And Saudi rulers have powerful incentives to oppose serious change because it could dilute their power and call into question their practice of diverting much of the revenue from the kingdom's oil to their personal use. A second option is to muddle through, hoping that an unreformed Saudi Arabia can nonetheless keep under control the bin Ladens that its society and school system produce. This is the administration's preferred option, and its decision to remove American troops from Saudi territory is designed to eliminate a major source of Wahhabi-inspired anger at the United States. If this approach fails, a third possibility is likely to receive serious consideration. If the world cannot live without Saudi oil but concludes that it also cannot live with the current Saudi regime, it may decide to separate the two, putting the Saudi oil fields under some sort of international control. They might be administered by the United Nations, with the proceeds going to the world's poorest countries rather than to the Saudi ruling family. This would cut off the funding for terrorism that, until now, has emanated from Saudi Arabia. It would represent a sharp departure from existing international rules and procedures. But if Saudi-funded terror continues, proposals of this kind will rise to the top of the international agenda.

Michael Mandelbaum, author of "The Ideas That Conquered the World," is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and a professor of American foreign policy at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

http://www.cfr.org/publication_print.php?id=6178.xml&content=

8/22/03

WSJ.com - Saudis Monitor Key Bank Accounts For Terror Funding at U.S. Request

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THE WALL STREET JOIMAL. O N L I N £'

February 6,2002 AFTERMATH OF TERROR FROM THE ARCHIVES: February 6, 2002

CRACKDOWN • Saudis Finally Move to Crack

Monitor KeV Bank ACCOUntS

For Terror Funding at U.S. Request

Down on Alleged Terror Funds3

02/04/02

By JAMES M. DORSEY Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- The Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority, the kingdom's central bank, is monitoring at the request of U.S. law-enforcement agencies bank accounts associated with some of the country's most prominent businessmen in a bid to prevent them from being used wittingly or unwittingly for the funneling of funds to terrorist organizations, according to U.S. officials and Saudis familiar with the issue. The accounts ~ belonging to Al Raj hi Banking & Investment Corp., headed by Saleh Abdulaziz al Rajhi; Al Rajhi Commercial Foreign Exchange, which isn't connected to Al Rajhi Banking; Islamic banking conglomerate Dalian Al Baraka Group, with $7 billion in assets chaired by Sheik Saleh Kamel; the Bin Mahfouz family, separate members of which own National Commercial Bank, Saudi Arabia's largest bank, and the Saudi Economic Development Co.; and the Abdullatif Jamil Group of companies — are among 150 accounts being monitored by SAM A, the Saudis and Riyadh-based U.S. officials said. ,-, t „ ... ., , ,— 1 See full coverage of the Aftermath of Terror 1 . a

The U.S. officials said the names of the accounts were presented by the U.S. to Saudi Arabia • the ., cSept. , ,,11 .terrorist • . attacks ,,. , .in .,theTU.S. I C , T-, .Yf four„Saudi ,. chanties , ... and, eight • , . , businesses • since They said were also among 140 world-wide names given to Saudi Arabia last month.

The U.S. officials said the U.S. had agreed not to publish the names of Saudi institutions and individuals provided Saudi authorities took appropriate action. Many of the Saudi accounts on the U.S. list belong to legitimate entities and businessmen who may in the past have had an association with institutions suspected of links to terrorism, the officials said. The officials said similar agreements had been reached with authorities in Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. "This arrangement sends out a warning to people," one U.S. official said. Since Sept. 11 the U.S. government and several multinational bodies including the United Nations have published a series of lists of groups and individuals accused of involvement in terrorism. In many cases, those on the list have had their assets frozen. The latest Saudi accounts aren't on any official lists. SAMA couldn't be reached for comment. In a recent report to the U.N. about combating terrorism, however, the Saudi government said, "SAMA sent a circular to all Saudi banks to uncover whether those listed in suspect lists have any real connection with terrorism." Saudi Arabia has frozen the accounts of several businessmen suspected by the U.S. of having funded terrorist organizations, including those of Jiddabased Yassin al Qadi. Among the Bin Mahfouz family, Abdulrahman bin Mahfouz was a board member of Muwafaq, a defunct Jersey-registered I charity headed by Mr. Qadi. Mr. Qadi is accused by the U.S. as being associated with terrorism. L_— ^— Mr. Qadi has challenged the freezing of his assets in a British court as well as at the European Court of Justice. Speaking in a telephone interview, Mr. Mahfouz denied that SAMA was monitoring accounts related to his family or business. "I don't believe that our names are among the 150. None of our accounts are under SAMA's supervision." He said authorities in Britain had, however, recently frozen accounts of the International Development Fund, a British-based charity operated by several of his uncles. A lawyer for Mr. Mahfouz said that he and his father, Khaled bin Mahfouz, had no financial interest in IDF or Saudi Economic Development, known as SEDCO, the company owned by Khaled bin Mahfouz's four brothers. In a statement, the four Bin Mahfouz brothers said, "SEDCO, like the IDF, condemns utterly any terrorist activity. It has never funded terrorist organizations or terrorists, either through managers or employees."

http://online.wsj.com/article_print/0,,SB1012954646952558840,OO.html

9/19/03

17) The Saudi-Al Qaeda Connection By Michael Isikoff and Mark Hosenball Newsweek

A cache of documents purportedly recovered from the files of ex-Taliban chief Mullah Omar in Afghanistan provides potentially damning new evidence of a secretive money trail through which millions of dollar in funds from Saudi Arabia allegedly flowed to Al Qaeda terrorists in the late 1990s. ONE OF the documents, obtained by NEWSWEEK, appears to be a direct order from Mullah Omar to the Afghan ambassador in Pakistan to turn over $2 million "in Saudi Arabia aids" to Jon Juma Namangani, a charismatic former Soviet paratrooper who became one of the most feared terrorists in Central Asia. Namangani--who headed the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, which the U.S. State Department designated a terrorist group-was once a close associate of Osama bin Laden until he was killed in a U.S. bombing raid nearly two years ago. "Pay $2 million from Saudi Arabia aids to respected brother Jon Juma Namagani," reads the directive signed "M.M. Omar" on the stationary of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. The order, written in Pashto, is addressed to the Afghan Embassy in Islamabad and is dated Nov. 21, 1999. (The letter bears the Islamic equivalent date of 12/8/1420.) The letter is among hundreds of pages of documents that was purportedly recovered from Mullah Omar's official files after the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in the fall of 2001. Some 39 pages of these documents were recently turned over by sympathetic Afghan sources to agents of Ron Motley, the lead U.S. lawyer in a massive $1 trillion lawsuit against top Saudi government officials, charities and leading businessmen filed on behalf of the families of victims of the September 11 terror attacks. The key phrase in the document--"Saudi Arabia aids"-is cryptic, and Motley concedes he doesn't know whether it refers to funds that came from the Saudi government, Islamic charities based in Saudi Arabia or some other Saudi-based source. Still, he called the documents among the most significant yet that have turned up in a nearly yearlong effort by his legal team to establish Saudi complicity in the financing of Al Qaeda. "This shows direct payments made to Al Qaeda from Saudi funds," said Motley. "Everybody talks about the smoking gun. Well, we've found the pistol on the side of the road. Now all we have to do is find the smoking bullet." English versions of other documents, prepared by translators working for Motley, appear to show the Taliban leader ordering similar releases of millions of dollars in funds "from the aids of Saudi Arabia, brotherly country," as well as the "the brotherly nation" of the United Arab Emirates. Other orders refer to "Wafa aids" and "the aids of AI-Rasheed"~two apparent references to Islamic charities that have been linked by U.S. officials to the financing of terrorism. The other documents direct that the payments go to more obscure figures with Arabic names who could not be immediately identified. But Motley contends that he was able to identify one of the recipients, Jaladin Haqani, as a former Taliban commander assigned to protect Al Qaeda forces, and that he believes the other recipients were aligned with either the Taliban or Al Qaeda. William Wechsler, a former National Security Council official who specialized in terror financing during the Clinton administration, said the 1999 Mullah Omar directive to release funds to

Saudi-Owned Wahhabi Mosques in America; An Entrenched Support Network of Terror Overview "Before September 11, al-Mihdhar, al-Hazmi, Hanjour, Atta, alShehhi, and possibly other hijackers attended at least seven mosques in California, Florida, Virginia, Arizona, and Maryland, some of which were also attended by persons of interest to the FBI." - Report of the Joint Inquiry into the Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2001 To follow is an analysis of a number of Saudi-owned and financed mosques in America that have significant links to the 9/11 hijackers, other known al Qaeda terrorist operatives and financiers, and Burnett defendant Islamic charities. This memo illustrates a deeply-rooted web of Wahhabi activities at a number of mosques nationwide that are supported by the Saudi government financed Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), and its subsidiary, the North American Islamic Trust (NAIT). Of particular interest for our purposes is the revelation that ISNA and NAIT are directly connected to Yaqub Mirza and a number of Islamic mutual investment funds based in the United States worth more than $60 million in assets. NAIT is also connected to the Quranic Literacy Institute, Global Relief Foundation, and Benevolence International. hi addition, I believe this information illustrates a strong pattern of hub-and-spoke relationships between NAIT and increasingly extremist Wahhabist mosques that have supported al-Qaeda related fundraising, recruiting, and logistical activities since at least the early 1990s. At this point in time, there has not been a publicly acknowledged Government investigation of NAIT's activities, nor has there been a public report completed of the organization's contributions and receipts. The information included has been derived from various open news and web-based sources. A subsequent search of our internal collections will be conducted to learn of other international al Qaeda connections with these mosques and organizations.

ISNA & NAIT: A "Clearinghouse for Wahhabism" Background According to the St. Petersburg Times, "The main clearinghouse for Wahhabism in the United States is a group not known to be under investigation, the Islamic Society of North America. ISNA is subsidized by the Saudi government." (SOURCE: Mary Jacoby, "Saudi form of Islam Wars with Moderates, " St. Petersburg Times, March 11, 2003.) In 1981, the Islamic Society of North America was established by affiliates of the Muslim Student Association as an umbrella organization to coordinate and promote Muslim civic activities nationwide. (SOURCE: Jane Lampman, "Islam on Campus, " Christian Science Monitor, November 8, 2001) The North American Trust, an ISNA subsidiary, owns about 27 percent of the estimated 1,200 mosques in the United States, or at least 250 out of some 1,200 nationwide, states a report by the Council on AmericanIslamic Relations, entitled "The Mosque in America." Significantly, NAIT holds title to a number of mosques and Islamic centers with direct links to the hijackers and other key al Qaeda operatives. These

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WSTEom - Terror Investigators Followed Funds to a Saudi Businessman

WALL STREET JOURNAL. ONLINE'

November 26, 2002

FROM THE ARCHIVES: November 26, 2002

SAUDI FINANCING

Terror Investigators Followed Funds to a Saudi Businessman Mr. Qadi's Deals Are Under U.S. Scrutiny; He Denies Charges, but Case Is Illuminating By GLENN R. SIMPSON

• Saudi Princess's Gift Strains U.S. Ties to Persian Gulf Ally4 11/25/02 • Sept. 11 Suit to Add Defendants, Including Saudi Minister. Bank5 11/22/02 • O'Neill Promises U.S. Caution in Citing Saudi, Terror Links6 03/07/02 • Saudis Monitor Key Bank Accounts for Terror Funding7

Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Yassin Qadi is a tall, bearded businessman whose financial interests in the 1990s spanned the globe from Jeddah to Malaysia to the suburbs of Washington. In Saudi Arabia, he is known as pious, wealthy and mildmannered. In the U.S., he is seen by government investigators as a leading member of a global network that finances both Islamic good works and terrorism. One month after the Sept. 11 attacks, the U.S. Treasury labeled Mr. Qadi, who is 47 years old, a "specially designated global terrorist" and froze his assets in the U.S. and Europe. The government says that Mr. Qadi and organizations he controls move money from Saudi sources through numerous businesses and charities world-wide. Some of the money ends up in the hands of terrorists, the U.S. says. Mr. Qadi declines to comment, but through his lawyers, he denies ever knowingly doing business with terrorists or financing them. He hasn't been prosecuted, and his attorneys are trying to persuade the Treasury of his innocence.

02/06/02 • Saudi Businessman Qadi Petitions Court to Release Assets8 12/21/01 • Bush's Financial War on Terror Includes Strikes at Islamic Charities9 09/25/01

Three Cases Pieced together from U.S. court filings and interviews, some of Mr. Qadi's financial activities and relationships offer tentative answers to two key questions: How does money get from wealthy Saudis and Saudi charities to extremist groups around the world? And why does some of it move through the U.S.? MORE COVERAGE Muslim FBI Agent Is Accused of Not Taping Terror Suspects1 For continuing coverage, see War on Terror2.

In one case, Mr. Qadi gave $820,000 to a Chicago charity that subsequently gave funds to a man convicted in Israel of helping buy weapons for Hamas, the Palestinian group known for sponsoring terror attacks against Israel. In a second instance, a Saudi-backed charity in Virginia invested $2.1 million in a real-estate company that shared offices with a New Jersey firm owned by Mr. Qadi — and the money disappeared. U.S. investigators say they have evidence suggesting that the real-estate company, in which Mr. Qadi formerly was an investor, may later have provided funds for terrorism abroad.

In a third case, the U.S. arm of a Malaysian company of which Mr. Qadi was a director — along with that same Saudi-backed charity in Virginia - invested in a Chicago company that was stockpiling dangerous chemicals. The Chicago company was headed by a man whom U.S. officials suspect of being a Hamas associate. Preserving Appearances Some U.S. officials say all of this complexity is designed to shield wealthy Saudis from direct association with extremist groups. "It looked bad for people in Saudi Arabia to be writing checks from a bank in Riyadh to Hamas," says Mark Flessner, a former federal prosecutor. He spent years tracking Mr. Qadi and suspected terrorist cells in Chicago as part of a Justice Department probe in the late 1990s known as Operation Vulgar Betrayal. Sponsors of extremist groups "were able to hide their Saudi financial sources by bringing funds into and through the U.S.," Mr. Flessner says.JThe investigation ended without indictments in 1999 but recently has been restarted. The Saudi money moves through the U.S. for the same reasons that attract other global investors, Mr. Flessner says: American financial institutions

http://online.wsj.com/article_print/0,,SB1038261957100299628,OO.html

9/19/03

List of Early al Qaeda Donors Points to Saudi Elite

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List of Early al Qaeda Donors Points to Saudi Elite, Charities

By GLENN R. SIMPSON Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

(See Corrections & Amplifications item below.) WASHINGTON - A cache of al Qaeda documents seized last year by U.S. agents in Bosnia identifies some of Saudi Arabia's richest and most influential families as among the first financial supporters of Osama bin Laden, and shows how al Qaeda used charitable arms of the Saudi government. An account of the roots of al Qaeda found on a computer used by a suspected al Qaeda front group contains a 1988 memorandum listing 20 Saudi financial backers of Mr. bin Laden - "the Golden Chain," as the bin Laden organization called it. The list includes the families of three billionaire Saudi banking magnates, several top industrialists and at least one former government minister. The Golden Chain list, which doesn't indicate the size of the donations, was drawn up at a time when supporting the Afghan revolt against Soviet invaders -- Mr. bin Laden's cause at the time - was a top U.S. foreign-policy objective, as well as a Saudi national cause with deep patriotic and religious overtones. The list doesn't show any continuing support for al Qaeda after the organization began targeting Americans, but a number of the Saudis on it have been under scrutiny by U.S. officials as to whether they have supported terrorism in recent years. U.S.-Saudi Ties Disclosure of the documents ~ hundreds of pages of internal correspondence over more than a decade between al Qaeda leaders, as well as the list -- comes at atfawkward moment for the Bush administration. As the U.S. approaches war with Iraq, it is relying on Saudi Arabian support, particularly use of Prince Sultan Air Base, near the Saudi capital of Riyadh.

THE GOLDEN CHAIN

See the list of donors originally filed under seal in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (United S Enaam Arnout.) The list was seized from the Benevolence International Foundation, an alleged al Qaeda front. Ac filing, "BIF possessed a handwritten draft list of people referred to within Al Qaeda as the 'Golden Chain,' wealthy mujahedeen efforts. At the top of the list is a Koranic verse stating 'And spend for God's cause.' The list contains 1 after each name is a parenthetical, likely indicating the person who received the money from the specified donor."

the Justice Department. It names billionaire bankers Saleh Kamel and Khalid bin Mahfouz, as well as the AI-Rajhi family, another banking family, and Mr. bin Laden's own brothers. A number of the Saudis on the list, including the bin Mahfouz, AI-Rajhhand Kamel families, are among those under U.S. scrutiny. r¥v

http://decorpnet.com/papa_6224/list_of_early_al_qaeda_donors_po.htm

6/30/03

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9/25/03

Before Sept. 11, he says, the case most likely would have been worked as a false-ID case and ended there. Instead, dozens of law-enforcement agencies were involved and hundreds of subpoenas were served. "This case was very high priority," says Featherston. Still, investigators have been unable to answer questions such as: Where was the sodiumcyanide bomb destined? And were the weapons being prepared for a group or sold individually? Featherston says the investigation is ongoing and won't end until these questions are answered. Experts say the case is important not only because of what it says about increased government cooperation, but also because it shows how serious a threat the, country faces from within. "The lesson in the Krar case is that we have to always be concerned about domestic terrorism. It would be a terrible mistake to believe that terrorism always come«/from outside," says Mark Potok at the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Ala. The fact is, the number of domestic terrorist acts in/fhe past five years far outweighs the number of international acts, says Mark Pitcavage of the/act-finding department at the Anti-Defamation League. "We do have home-grown hate in the/United States, people who are just as ill-disposed to the American government as any international terrorist group," he says. Levitas estimates that there are approxh/nately 25,000 right-wing extremist members and activists and some 250,000 sympathizers. The/Southern Poverty Law Center counted 708 hate groups in 2002. While Mr. Pitcavage was surprise^ the Krar case did not receive more attention, "It is a fact that a lot of stories involving domesti^extremists get undercovered," he says. He points to a case he calls one of "the major terrorist plots of the 1990s" in which militia from around the country converged in central Texas/allegedly to attack a military base. They were arrested at a campground near Fort Hood on the morning of July 4, 1997, with a large collection of weapons and explosives. "There was virtually no media coverage of that incident either," says Pitcavage. Featherston speculates that the Krar case got little attention because the arrests were made just after the war began in Iraq. "Excuse me, a chemical weapon was found in the home state of George Bush," says Levitas. "I'm not saying the Justice Department deliberately decided to downplay the story because they thought it might be embarrassing to the US government if weapons of mass destruction were found in America before they were found in Iraq. But I am saying it was a mistake not to give this higher profile." For his part, Krar has remained silent. He will most likely be sentenced sometime in February, and could receive up to life in prison. His attorney, Tonda Curry, says the US government has no reason to be afraid of him. "It looks a whole lot worse than it is. He had a lot of things that most people would never have any desire to have, but much of what he had was perfectly legal."

10. Saudi Funds Tied To Extremism in Europe DAVID CRAWFORD and IAN JOHNSON Wall Street Journal For years, Saudi Arabian support for Europe's burgeoning Muslim population was seen as little more than benign help for sometimes beleaguered immigrants. In a remarkable change, Europe's police and intelligence forces have revised their view, identifying Saudi money and theology as a cause for growing radicalism and support for terrorism. In recent months, countries across the continent have launched inquiries into Saudi influence on their Muslim communities, which in some countries account for more than 10% of the population and are growing rapidly due to immigration. The investigations focus especially on Saudi-backed

PRESS CLIPS FOR DECEMBER 30, 2003

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Allah The Mighty and Majestic says in Soorah AI-Baqarah: If you disclose your sadaqaat (alms-giving) it is well, but if you conceal it and give it to the poor that is better for you. Allah will forgive you some of your sins. And Allah is knows all that you do. Not upon you (Muhammad) is their guidance, but Allah guides whom He wills. And whatever you spend in good, it is for yourselves, when you spend in good, it will be repaid to you in full and you shall not be wronged. AI-Baqarah 271 - 272 Abu Hurairah (radiallahu v anhu) reported that the Prophet (sallallahu 'alaihi wa sallam) said: Every day two angels come down and one of them says, 'Oh Allah! Compensate every person who spends in your cause', and the other says, 'Oh Allah! Destroy every miser.' (Mutafaqun 'alaih) Introduction All praise and thanks is due to Allah and may salaat and salaam be upon our Prophe Muhammad and upon his family and followers and companions. Indeed eemaan (faith) increases and becomes stronger with obedience and righteous deec and for one who is beautified with the praiseworthy characteristics is a sign of success fror Allah and for one who is characterized as possessing honor and generosity is a sign c eemaan. Also whom Allah opens their heart to these favors will be counted among th righteous if Allah wills. Whoever finds it important to aspire and strive for higher matter keeps themselves away from miserliness and purifies their wealth through giving charit (sadaqah) and getting close to Allah by the best of deeds. Islamic society has qualities an peculiarities which raise it above all other human societies and these outstanding qualitie stem from the divine shariah through which Allah has ennobled this ummah by making it th best of nations from among mankind. This superiority however, is only conferred upon thos who possess the above mentioned characteristics and adhere to those attributes. Among the most outstanding of the characteristics of Muslim society is mutual responsibilit and human understanding as well as continuity, goodness, cohesion, connectedness an where equality prevails along with kindness. Individuals are tightly connected throug brotherhood and cooperation and love is fostered between them as Allah states: "Verily th believers are brethren." And in deeds as He states, "and cooperate in righteousness an piety".

The Most Important Aims of the Foundation To establish the correct beliefs (al'aqeedah as-saheehah) in the hearts of the Muslims as comes from the Book of Allah and the Sunnah based upon the understanding of the righteou and pious generations. Concentration on teaching the authentic sunnah (as-sunnah as-saheehah), clarifying and explaining its importance in understanding beliefs, worship and practice.

http ://www. alharamain. org/alharamain_site/eng/inner. asp?order= 1 &num= 1

8/21/03

AL haramain site

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1

1

1 orphans and callers 1 General

Africa Committee

88003/2

charity, zakaat, 'aqeeqah, book pr da'wah, sponsorship of institutions, da'wa projects, clinics, sponsorships of orphans ; callers, famine relief, women's hijab

Europe Committee

88004/0

General charity, zakaat, book printing, da'i sponsorship^ of callers, Islamic hijaab, orpt sponsorship

Da'wah and Sponsorships Committee

88005/7

Orphan sponsorships/ Islamic callers, handicapped, clothing for poor families, Eii for orphans, book printing, da'wah pample gifts, Qur'aans, da'wah, spread of Islamic knowledge, sponsorship of imams and mu; sponsorship of memorizers of Qur'aan, dis of saheeh AI-Bukhaari

Americas Committee

88006/5

North and South American book printing, I education and introducing non-Muslims to

Zakaat Committee

88007/3

Zakaat outside the Kingdom of Saudi Arabi

Continuous Charity

88009/9

Continous endowment going to all charitat

Masjids Committee

88014/9

Building of masjids and Islamic centers

Seasonal Projects Committee

88011/5

Feeding fast breakers, sacrifices, winter bl Islamic courses, da'wah outings, winter pr etc. ,{fe,

Profitable Business

88008/1

1) MasaajiW 2) Orphans and Poor 3)Contin Charity 4}Oa'ee sponsorship 5)Qur'aanic c Da'wah messages in two languages 7) Inb Daw'ah in the West 8) Relief work, medicii providing water 9) Summer programs 10) Charitable projects of all types

Domestic Zakaat

88012/3

General charity inside KSA

Doctors' Committee

88013/1

Medial assistance, equipment, supplies, instruments, health education

Silatul-Faqeed

88010/7

Charity to foundation projects made on bel fathers who have died leaving families beh

Islamic Tape Project

88015/6

For productiion and distribution of Islamic tapes

Single Body Project

88017/2

Single Body Project in Indonesia includes residences for orphans and the indigent, la masjid, educational classes, clinic, vocatioi training

Palestine

88016/4

For needy Palestinians

Zakaatul-Fitr Project

88018/0

For purchasing Zakaatul-Fitr and feeding t fasters ^

"Inform of me even if one verse..."

88019/8

Printing /pnd translation of the meaning of Noble Qur'aan and Islamic books for West readers

Goodness to Parents Endowment

88020/7

Building project from which income is use< support charity projects

http://www.alharamain.org/alharamain/eng/inner.asp ?order= 1 &num= 11

7/11/03

Saudis Spread

A Study by

AliAI-Ahmed & Stephen Schwartz

Hate Speech in U.S. Executive Summary A dosereadingof Saudi-funded textbooks and other publications that no nation should be promoting, least of all a nation that calls itself Americas ally in the war against terrorism. The materials examinedfcffthe purposes of this study include anti(non-Vfahhabi) Muslims, The materials include also the following incitement: **Ilie unbelievers, idolaters and others like them must be hated and despised." TJiesepnxlucts ate distributed by Saudi officials — including senior diplomats at the Saudi Embassy - as well as by Saudi-funded orgariizauonssuchasthe\)(
Saudi officials disseminate hate literature openly in the United States, through such entities as the Institute for Islamic and Arabic Sciences in America (IIASA), in Fairfax, Va. and the World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY), in Alexandria, Va. Publications they distribute show that official Saudi representatives in the United States promote the belief that Jews are the source of all conflicts in the world, that Shi'a Muslims are part of a Jewish conspiracy, and that Muslims, Jews, and Christians cannot live together.

The Foundation for the Defense of Democracies

Examples: The book Deen al-Haqq (The True Religion) , authored in Arabic by Abdul-Rahman Ben Hamad Al-Omer. Printed by the Ministry of Islamic Affairs and Endowments, Riyadh, and paid for by the foundation of Ibrahim ibn Abdul-Aziz Al-Brahim, King Fahd's father-in-law. Distributed by in the U.S. by IIASA and WAMY:

79 of 295 DOCUMENTS Copyright 2002 National Review National Review December 5, 2002, Thursday

SECTION: National Review Online; Guest Comment LENGTH: 546 words HEADLINE: The Roots of Terror BYLINE: By Jonathan Levin; Jonathan Levin is a terrorism analyst with the Investigative Project, a Washington, D.C.based think tank tracking terrorists and their supporters around the world. BODY: The well-oiled Saudi PR machine chugged into action this week with foreign-policy adviser Adel al-Jubeir at the helm. "For too long Saudi Arabia has been wrongly accused of being uncooperative or ineffective in combating terrorism," al-Jubeir proclaimed to an audience of newsmen at the Saudi embassy, "the unfounded charges against Saudi Arabia have gotten out of control." Al-Jubeir went on to list the Saudis' successful strikes against terrorism: arresting the mastermind of 2000's USS Cole bombing, Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri; freezing nearly $5.6 million in terrorist assets; freezing Wael Hamza Julaidan's assets. The finishing touch, Al-Jubeir said, is the enactment of stringent measures by which the Saudi government can track the finances of charities that have in the past funded al Qaeda. Al-Jubeir then pointed out that the new accounting measures are merely precautionary, telling reporters, "We have not found a direct link between charity groups and terrorism." Of course, Saudi-based charities have raised millions (if not billions) of dollars for terrorism. One Saudi charity, Al Haramain Charitable Trust, has had it offices in Bosnia and Somalia declared Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) entities. Another charity, the Rabita Trust, has been marked SPOT outright. The World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY) and International Islamic Relief Organization (IIRO) are two-of Rabita Trust's sister organizations. The Wall Street Journal recently published an in-depth account of the tiesbetwegn IIKD, Saudi al Qaeda financier YassitTapQadi andlhe 1998 African-embassy bombings. liRTJhas been lmkedlo~^ planned attacks in Pakistan, India, the PTulIppinesT-and-A-frtea:—— WAMY was founded in the United States by Osama bin Laden's brother, Abdullah. The short WAMY book Islamic Views, printed by the Saudi government's Armed Forces Printing Press, contains passages such as, "[TJeach our children to love taking revenge on the Jews and the oppressors, and teach them that our youngsters will liberate Palestine and al-Quds when they go back to Islam and make Jihad for the sake of Allah." The Saudi promise to cut offal Qaeda funding is a welcome development. What is troubling is, just as Al Jubeir is announcing his government's new accounting practices, Saudi royals are donating to some of the worst offenders. The weekly political magazine Ain al Yaqeen ("Heart of the Matter"), reppiteilonJSfovember 29 that Prince Abdul Maieed ibn AbdujAziz recently headlined a joint WAMX/aLHaramain fundraiser mid gave a $4U,UOO donation. A couple weeks later, Prince Mohammed ibn Fahd ibn Abdul Aziz spoke at a fundraiser for WAMY1, al-Haramain, and IIRO. American public opinion is against the Saudis because of precisely these sorts of deceptions. Saudi minister of the interior Prince Nayef Ibn Abd Al-Azizs told the Kuwaiti paper al-Siyaasa, "we [the Saudis] put big question marks and ask who committed the events of September 11 and who benefited from the. Who benefited from events of 9/11? I think

78 of 295 DOCUMENTS Copyright 2002 Federal Information and News Dispatch, Inc. Voice of America News December 14, 2002

SECTION: ON THE LINE 1-01244 LENGTH: 3540 words HEADLINE: WHO BANKROLLS TERROR? TEXT: THEME: UP, HOLD UNDER AND FADE Host: Who bankrolls terror? Next, On the Line, [music] Host: Investigators in the United States are looking into whether money from the wife of the Saudi Ambassador to the U-S ended up in the pockets of two of the terrorists who crashed a plane into the Pentagon on September 11 th, 2001. As first reported in Newsweek magazine, Princess Haifa Bint Faisal sent thousands of dollars in cashiers checks to a Saudi woman who had asked for help paying medical bills. Instead, the woman gave the money to a friend whose husband in turn gave some money, and other help, to two men who were part of the September 11th al-Qaida terrorist attacks. The Saudi Embassy insists that the princess had no idea that the money she gave out of charity was put to other uses. But the controversy has prompted new questions in Washington about whether money given to Saudi charities has been diverted to finance terror. Joining me to talk about this issue, are Michael Isikoff, investigative correspondent at Newsweek magazine; Matt Levitt, senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and Eleana Gordon, policy director at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. Welcome, thanks for joining us today. Michael Isikoff, you broke the story in Newsweek about these donations and where the money went, so why don't you walk us through the story you reported. Isikoff: Well, this really begins with investigations into the September 11th attack and, in particular, two of the hijackers. Khalid Almihdhar and Nawaf Alhazmi were in San Diego — came into the country in January 2000 -- and it turned out had a lot of help in San Diego from members of the Islamic community. In particular, one guy, named Omar al-Bayoumi, a Saudi student in the United States who happened to have met them at the airport when they landed in LA, happened to have offered to assist them moving down to San Diego, drove them there, set them up in an apartment next door to his, helped them pay the rent and then smoothed their way for entree into the Islamic community, including getting some of his friends to help them get into flight school, get social security cards, drivers licenses. It turned out that al-Bayoumi in turn was receiving, had an associate, Mr. [Osama] Basnan, another Saudi student in the United States, who was receiving a fairly substantial assistance from the Saudi Embassy in Washington. In particular, Princess Haifa, the wife of the Saudi ambassador, Prince Bandar, in the form of cashiers checks, totaling about a hundred-andthirty-thousand dollars over a four year period. Some of those cashiers checks that were sent to the wife of Basnan, were given to the wife of Bayoumi and Bayoumi appeared to have gotten some of that money. The question investigators wanted to know was, was Bayoumi and perhaps Basnan being subsidized for some purpose to either assist the hijackers or keep an eye on them. Host: And what do investigators think?

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By Stephen Schwartz FrontPage.com June 30, 2003 Website: http://wv\w.frontpagemag.com/Artic|es/ReadArticle.asp?ID=8642

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On Thursday, June 26,1 testified before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology and Homeland Security, chaired by Sen. Jon Kyi (R-Ariz). My topic was 'Wahhabism and Islam in the U.S." I outlined the outrageous degree to which Saudi-funded Wahhabi extremists, who are supporters of terrorism, have come to dominate Islam in the U.S. My testimony was not greeted with enthusiasm by James Zogby, the phony civil rights leader who heads the "Arab American Institute." Zogby, a Lebanese Christian once known for his moderate camouflage on Israel, but now a shameless apologist for the Saudis, immediately fired off a press release. He described me and my fellow witness, Alex Alexiev of the Center for Security Policy, with mangled syntax, as "virulent anti-American Arab and Muslim critics whose writings and statements display a consistently misinformed and hurtful tone. Schwartz denigrates American Muslims by describing Wahhabism as an 'extremist, puritanical and violent movement,'" he alleged. In reality, it is Zogby who may be described with perfect accuracy as a "virulent anti-American Arab." He demanded that his supporters send e-mails to Sens. Kyi and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif), protesting against the very fact that the hearing was held. While this was taking place, federal agents were poised to arrest six Muslim men in the Washington area and in Pennsylvania. Two of their codefendants were already in custody. Three of them have fled to Saudi Arabia. They total 11, and are charged with conspiring with a Wahhabi group based in Pakistan - Lashkar-i-Taiba or "Army of the Righteous" - to commit terrorism in Kashmir, Chechnya, and elsewhere. The lead indictee, arrested early Friday, is a man named Randall Royer, who calls himself by the Islamic name "Ismail." He's someone I know pretty well. But I know some of his playmates even better. Royer used to operate a "blog," which remains accessible on the net: ismailroyer.blogspot.com. Go to the page and look in the right column and you will find me described as "Washington Bureau Chief, The Forward," a position I have not held for almost two years. This, of course, is his way of identifying me as Jewish. And if you hit the link at my name, you go straight to the Nazi swill of Bill White, the compulsive liar from Silver Spring, Md., writing in the depraved Pravda, organ of the red-brown Communazi alliance. I first heard of Royer in January 2002, when I was working at the Voice of America. He had called my successor at the Forward, and, identifying himself as Randall, not Ismail, asked if he could talk to me about religion in Bosnia. The Forward reporter passed the message on, and being the kind of free-speaking person I am, I responded. But as soon as I e-mailed Randall Royer, what did I get back? From an e-mail address in Bosnia, he falsely identified himself as writing for beliefnet, a religious news website. He sent me a defamatory quote from the notorious Saddamizer and admirer of Axis seditionists, Dennis "Justin" Raimondo, proprietor of the antiwar.com website. Royer added a false

http://www.defenddemocracy.org//in_the_media/in_the_media_show.htm?doc_id=l 80410

7/29/03

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By Stephen Schwartz The New York Post July 11, 2003 Website: http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/opedcolumnists/274.htm

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Adherents of the violently uncompromising Wahhabi sect, the state religion of Saudi Arabia, are killing other Muslims overseas, and attacking coalition troops in Iraq. On our side of the globe, bloodshed is blessedly limited, but a battle continues, for the education and mobilization of the public. On July 4, three Wahhabi terrorists killed 48 people and injured 50 more at a Shia mosque in Quetta, Pakistan. Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and other high officials cautiously admitted they detected a foreign hand in the atrocity. Pakistani Muslims living in America filled in the blanks. Agha Shaukat Jafri, spokesman for the Universal Muslim Association of America (the top U.S. Shia community organization), said: "Every Pakistani Muslim knows the blame for these dreadful crimes belongs in one place — the doorstep of the Saudi princes and the Wahhabi bigots in Riyadh." Top U.S. officials know it, too. Treasury Department General Counsel David Aufhauser recently described Saudi Arabia as "in many ways, the epicenter" for funding of al Qaeda and other terrorists. And he pointed to the Wahhabi sect as "a very important factor to be taken into account when discussing terrorist financing." Saudi spending to impose Wahhabism on global Islam, he noted, "is a combustible compound when mixed with religious teachings in thousands of madrasahs [Islamic schools] that condemn pluralism and mark nonbelievers as enemies . . . It needs to be dealt with." Pakistan's rulers are timid about directly confronting the Wahhabism menace, but some of our own leaders are worse. Aufhauser's comments came late last month, at Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Terrorism hearings on Wahhabi influence in American Islam. I was among three others who testified. Some senators clearly perceive the threat: Jon Kyi (R-Ariz.) called the hearings, and Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) delivered a stirring challenge to indifference about Wahhabi infiltration of our prisons, military and other institutions. But two others, Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Dick Durbin (D-lll.), found our

http://www.defenddemocracy.org//in_the_media/in_the_media_show.htm?doc_id= 182607

7/29/03

BW Online I March 17, 2003 I The Cash Squeeze on Terror Inc.

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MARCH 17, 2003 NEWS: ANALYSIS & COMMENTARY

The Cash Squeeze on Terror Inc. Key arrests could help choke off al Qaeda financing

Intelligence officials rejoiced over news that al Qaeda operations chief Khalid Sheik Mohammed had been nabbed in Pakistan on Mar. 1 and spirited out of the country by U.S. agents. Suspected of being the key organizer of the September 11 attacks, Mohammed is allegedly one of the biggest fish snared to date in the U.S.-led crackdown on Osama bin Laden's terror network. Almost as encouraging — though less high-profile — is the slow but steady progress being made in cracking al Qaeda's fund-raising network. In the drive to dry up bin Laden's money taps, an operative captured alongside Mohammed may turn out to be equally crucial. Mustafa Ahmed ai-Hawsawi, a 34-year-old Saudi, set up the bank accounts used by the September 11 hijackers and received $25,000 in cash that the 19 operatives returned in the days before the attack, FBI Director Robert Mueller told Congress. Al-Hawsawi is "a big cog in the machinery that moves al Qaeda money around the Middle East," says terrorism expert Neil C. Livingstone, chairman of security consultants GlobalOptions Inc. On Mar. 4, U.S. prosecutors unsealed charges against Sheik Mohammed Ali Hasan Al-Moayad, a Yemeni cleric tied to Brooklyn's al Farouq mosque. The FBI alleges his associates regularly solicited funds at al Farouq and that he boasted to an informant of raising $20 million and delivering it personally to bin Laden. Al-Moayad denies the charges. A spokesman for the mosque said it is "just a place of worship." Coming on the heels of a spate of U.S. and European moves to shut down charitable fronts used to fund terrorism, these skirmishes in the money war are beginning to give harried anti-terror officials a glimmer of hope. "The disruption in [al Qaeda's] funding flow is substantial and real," concludes a senior U.S. official involved in the campaign. :,(. awe'But disruption isn't destruction — and the financial warriors still have a long* battle ahead. The wellsprings of terror cash ~ donations raised in mosques and by Islamic charities ~ have hardly been touched. And the man U.S. intelligence officials suspected of being al Qaeda's financial mastermind, Sheik Said al-Masri, remains at large. And while the U.S. Treasury has put American banks on high alert to catch dirty money, other governments don't feel the same urgency. Even as they publicly praise the international community for cooperating in the war on terrorist financing, U.S. officials complain privately that foreign government support has been "spotty at best." Part of the problem comes from Washington. Pleas by Treasury Secretary John W. Snow for allies to curb money flows are drowned out by other messages, including the Bush Administration's calls to shore up support for war in Iraq. Indeed, that's why U.S. officials are thought to be going easy now on countries, most notably Saudi Arabia, where terror funders thrive. So the fund-raising machine that turns legitimate contributions and profits into blood money is still

http://www.businessweek.com:/print/magazine/content/03_ll/b3824050.htm?mz

6/30/03

FOXNews.com

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™°™Wffi5cript: Sen. Jon Kyi (R-AZ) on Fox News Sunday Lee H. I&mi&ay, June 29, 2003 VICE CHAIR

Max CleTfi§l'io//ovv'n9l 's a transcribed excerpt from Fox News Sunday, June 29, 2003. , FOX NEWS: The Senate Judiciary Committee held a meeting last Thursday on the influence within the United States of Wahhabi Islam. The core question is whether Wahhabi radicals, some supported and financed Jamie Sj$
lohn F. tMn!aS us now> tne man wfl° ca^e(* tne hearing, Senator Jon Kyi of Arizona. Also here, Brit Hume, Washington ' managing editor of Fox News. Timothy J. Roemer

Senator Kyi, first I want to get you to give us a thumbnail sketch of what you think the dangers posed by Wahhabi James RMQsfatiSivuithin the United States are. LLSf. SEN. JON KYL (R-AZ): The primary danger is their ability to recruit Americans into the war on terror and their EXEcuTWn5iK^r8ia 'ar9e num^er °f mosques and infiltration of American institutions - prisons, for example, even the military clergy - in a way that is, I think, very, very dangerous here, because American Muslims are not used to that kind of Wahhabi influence, the radical influence, as are Muslims in other parts of the world. SNOW: I don't know if you've seen today's Washington Post. It's 6:00 a.m. out there, they probably haven't thrown it on your doorstep yet. But Susan Schmidt has a piece that indicates that the United States Navy, and I think the Pentagon also at some point, on their site, referring to the chaplaincy, actually had a direct link to a site here in the United States that directed people to sites that included the writings of people who had inspired Osama bin Laden. Does that surprise you? And does it trouble you? KYL: It does not surprise me in a way, although I am not aware of it, and it troubles me greatly. But it's very consistent with the testimony that we had. In fact, Senator Chuck Schumer from New York, in his opening statement at our hearing on this influence of the Wahhabi radical Muslims, made the point that the military had allowed the Wahhabi imams to dominate the chaplaincy for Muslims. That same thing he said is occurring in our prisons. And we're going to be having a series of hearings that will investigate those claims, as well as others relating to the Wahhabi influence and its support of terror here in the United States. SNOW: The government of Saudi Arabia argues that, A, it is not directly responsible for any of this. It funds only six mosques within the United States. B, it has taken aggressive action against radical clerics, firing as many as 1 ,000 in recent weeks. C, all of the key leaders, including Crown Prince Abdullah, have issued public statements condemning the kind of violence that has been linked to Osama bin Laden and other Wahhabists. I want to get your sense of what role, if any, the government, the official government of Saudi Arabia plays in this. KYL: Our government is very careful to not directly blame the Saudi government for the funding of terrorism around the world, including in the United States. But two government witnesses - Larry Aufhauser, who is the general counsel to the Department of Treasury, and, R

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Guest Comment

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April 16, 2003, 7: 15a.m.

Drawing a Line in the Saudi Sand Time for Riyadh to prove it is an ally in the war on terror. By Matthew Levitt

w

ith the Iraqi regime defeated and military victory near at hand, the United States and it allies are positioned to leverage greater cooperation in the war on terror from key Arab states, chief among them Saudi Arabia.

For all its rhetoric, and its limited actions, Saudi Arabia remains part of the problem of international terrorism, not the answer. To be sure, Saudi Arabia has made several contributions to the war on terror — albeit limited and intermittent. In one instance, Saudi agents reportedly infiltrated two domestic al Qaeda cells, leading to the arrest last June of over 75 al Qaeda members of several nationalities, including Saudis. Saudi security services have thwarted terror attacks targeting Western interests in the Kingdom. Still, even those counterterror efforts in which the Saudis do engage are inconsistent. While limited operations have been conducted in the tactical realm of preventing near term attacks on Saudi soil, the Saudis have proved far less cooperative in critical strategic areas such as combating terror financing or assisting international terrorism investigations. The actions the Saudis claim to have already implemented amount to little more than window dressing, when what is needed is concrete and concerted action. If the Saudis acted on the four following issues, they would make a significant contribution to the reinvigorated counterterror offensive to follow the removal of Saddam and liberation of Iraq. Critically, the only question is whetherthe Saudis are willing to take such action; they are certainly capable. These are actions the Saudi regime is capable of taking, and should therefore be expected and held accountable to implement. Action in these areas is the yardstick by which the West should measure Saudi cooperation in the war on terror: 1. Assist International Terror Investigations. Saudi officials are not only insufficiently cooperative in terrorism investigations, they have obstructed several recent investigations into key terrorism suspects. Violating a U.S. Grand Jury subpoena order and State Department regulations, Saudi diplomats in Washington secreted Maha Hafeez Marri out of the U.S. to Saudi Arabia in November 2002. Marri's husband, Ali Marri, is charged with

http://www.nationalreview.com/script/printpage.asp?ref=/comment/cornment-levitt041603.asp

6/30/03

GOLDEN CHAIN LIST ANALYSIS & PROFILES

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GOLDEN CHAIN LIST ANALYSIS & PROFILES CONTEXT The Golden Chain list (or list of wealthy Saudi sponsors) was presented by the US government as Exhibit 5 in the Department of Justice "Government's Evidentiary Proffer Supporting the Admissibility of Coconspirator Statements" in the case of USA v. Arnaout (USDC, Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division) filed on January 29, 2003. The list was also mentioned in the Indictment of Enaam Arnaout on October 9, 2002 (02 CR 892). According to the US government, the document is "a list of people referred to within Al Qaida as the "Golden Chain", wealthy donors to mujahideen efforts". Originally, the document was seized by the Bosnian police during searches in the offices of Benevolence International Foundation in Sarajevo on March 2002. The list was part of a computer file labeled "Tareekh Osama", or "Osama History", containing scanned images of several documents. The computer files seized in Bosnia were delivered to the US Embassy soon after the raids. Our team was granted access to these documents following an order of the Supreme Court of Bosnia Herzegovina issued on March 6, 2003.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AI-Qaida list of top 20 Saudi financial sponsors include 6 bankers and 12 businessmen, among which 2 former ministers. Only two on the list have not been yet identified with certainty. According to our estimates, their cumulative corporate net worth totals more than $85 billion US, or 42% of the Saudi annual GNP and equivalent to the annual GNP of Venezuela. These prominent businessmen and bankers own or control 16 companies ranking among the top 100 Saudi companies. The complete list of Saudi donors and AI-Qaida recipients (25 names) include 8 individuals already named in the complaint. We should note that the most virulent Saudi statements against the lawsuit were issued by those listed in the "Golden Chain", especially Saleh Abdullah Kamel. Among the most notable findings, we should highlight the following -Confirmation that the Bin Laden family has been a major contributor to Usama, despite its statements denying such support -Involvement of bankers representing the three largest Saudi banks (National Commercial Bank, Riyad Bank, Al Rajhi Banking and Investment Corp) -Involvement of former oil ministers Sheikh Yamani and Taher '' "' -Involvement of most of them in charity organizations as founders or board members

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6/30/03

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Dore Gold, Former Israeli Ambassador to U.N. Tuesday, April 15, 2003 FOX NEWS This is a partial transcript from Your World with Neil Cavuto, April 12, 2003, that was edited for clarity. Click here for complete access to all of Neil Cavuto's CEO interviews. Watch Your World w/Cavuto weekdays at 4 p.m. and 1 a.m. ET. NEIL CAVUTO, HOST: Our next guest is begging the U.S. to focus on Saudi Arabia. He says that the country continues to subsidize suicide attacks, and that if we don't do something about it we won't win this war on terror. Joining us now from Jerusalem is Dore Gold, former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations and author of Hatred's Kingdom: How Saudi Arabia Supports the New Global Terrorism. Ambassador, thank you for coming. DORE GOLD, FMR. ISRAELI AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: My pleasure. CAVUTO: I want to get your take on Saudi Arabia, because if you are right, we are focusing on all the wrong countries. Are we? GOLD: Well, when I started writing Hatred's Kingdom over a year ago, I had in mind 9/11. We weren't involved in this Iraq conflict. Syria wasn't being spoken about. But frankly, what happened is I revealed, in doing this research reads, and it reads like an intelligence document, this book, I revealed how the Saudis actually have been paying for terrorism. I have canceled checks, payment schedules. It is all there for the reader to see. Now, I understand President Bush's prioritization of Iraq, because Iraq is the future threat - or was the future threat. It was the potential combination of weapons of mass destruction, of a rogue state, with terrorist groups. And that has been neutralized. But you still haven't addressed the country that generated, that spawned the terrorism that led to 9/11, and that's Saudi Arabia. It may be the past threat but it's still a threat that is out there. CAVUTO: All right. But then how do you deal with it? I mean, essentially Saudi Arabia is our friend, you are saying they do a lot of sneaky things which proves they are not our friend, but it is the government we know, how do we deal with it? GOLD: Well, I'm not suggesting that you overthrow Saudi Arabia. I'm not suggesting regime change. I wrote a piece in Monday's Wall Street Journal and I'm very specific on that point. But I think that Saudi Arabia has played a double game. For their own reasons, some of them identify with bin Laden, some of them are trying to pay protection money to bin Laden, they have been supporting Al Qaeda. CAVUTO: Then what do you do, what do you do, what do you do? GOLD: ...supporting terror - so for the first time, you've got to bang your fist on the table and put pressure on them. First and foremost, get them to stop financing terrorism, but there is a second issue of incitement as well. CAVUTO: All right. When you incite, though, you also invite a lot of criticism from other Arab countries. Do you think the United States is up for that, after now battling Iraq and all the controversy that ensued from that? GOLD: Well, when I said incitement, I meant the problem is that Saudi Arabia has been brainwashing its young and

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7/7/03

6 of 318 DOCUMENTS Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company The New York Times July 5, 2003, Saturday, Late Edition - Final

SECTION: Section A; Page 3; Column 1; Foreign Desk LENGTH: 1256 words HEADLINE: Saudis Quietly Promote Strict Islam in Indonesia BYLINE: By JANE PERLEZ DATELINE: JAKARTA, Indonesia, July 4 BODY: In high school, Atep Arofiq was fascinated by Islamic studies, and with meager means for higher education, a free institution financed by Saudi Arabia in this bustling capital seemed like a natural choice. There was an added attraction: the best students could graduate to further study in Saudi Arabia, all expenses paid. Mr. Arofiq, 25, entered the Educational Institution of Indonesia-Saudi Arabia, housed in a gleaming building on a main thoroughfare. He lasted in the austere environment for two years. "There were too many forbidden things," he said of the school where the Arabic language, taught by teachers from Saudi Arabia, is the focus of die curriculum. "You were not allowed to join any other student organization. Jeans were out, and they preferred that you wear a beard and long Arabic clothes." Mr. Arofiq did not feel at home at the Saudi-run school, where he said the strict Wahhabi form of Islam was the basis of the teaching. But he was the exception. Most students persevered for the full five years, he said. From the financing of educational institutions to giving money for militant Islamic groups, the influence of Saudi Arabia, and Saudi charities, has been growing steadily here in the world's most populous Muslim country. Until recently, Indonesia has been famously relaxed about its religion. But slowly Indonesians are becoming more devout and in the battle for the soul of Islam here the Saudis are playing an important though stealthy role, Indonesian scholars say. The Saudi money has come in two forms, Indonesian and Western officials said: above-board funds for religious and educational purposes, and quietly disbursed funds for militant Islamic groups. The Saudi money has had a profound effect on extremist groups, allowing some to keep going and inspiring others to start recruiting, the officials said. A Saudi charity, Al Haramain, provides a good example of this dual role. Three years ago it signed a formal memorandum of understanding with the Indonesian Ministry of Religion that allowed it to finance educational institutions. But Al Haramain also appears to have served as a conduit for money to Jemaah Islamiyah, a Southeast Asian terrorist organization that aims to build Islamic states in the region. A senior member of Jemaah Islamiyah, Umar Faruq, who was arrested last year and is now in American custody, told the Central Intelligence Agency that Al Haramain provided money to his jroup. Earlier this year, under pressure from Washington, Saudi government officials announced that Al Haramain had been asked to close down in all the Muslim countries where it was operating.

7 of 318 DOCUMENTS Copyright 2003 The Washington Post The Washington Post June 27, 2003, Friday, Final Edition

SECTION: A SECTION; Pg. Al 1 LENGTH: 759 words HEADLINE: Wahhabi Strain of Islam Faulted; Saudis'Funding Helps Foster Terror Groups, Experts Say BYLINE: John Mintz, Washington Post Staff Writer BODY: In a rare congressional hearing on Saudi funding of extremism, two U.S. senators and a panel of terrorism experts said yesterday that top Saudi officials and institutions spend huge sums from the kingdom's oil wealth to promote an intolerant school of Islam embraced by al Qaeda and other terrorist groups. "The problem we are looking at today is the state-sponsored doctrine and funding of an extremist ideology that provides the recruiting grounds, support infrastructure and monetary lifeblood to today's international terrorists," said Sen. Jon Kyi (R-Ariz.), who chaired the hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee's terrorism panel. Although administration officials have avoided suggesting that Saudi Arabia, an important U.S. ally, is the world's leading source of terrorist funding, Treasury Department general counsel David Aufhauser testified yesterday that "in many ways, [Saudi Arabia] is the epicenter" for the financing of Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network and other terrorist movements. "We are not at war with a faith, nor with any particular sect," Aufhauser said. But he added that Islam's "severe and uncompromising" Wahhabi movement "is a very important factor to be taken into account when discussing terrorist financing." Aufhauser added that the Saudis' largely unmonitored spending to disseminate the Wahhabi viewpoint worldwide "is a combustible compound when mixed with religious teachings in thousands of madrasahs [Islamic schools] that condemn pluralism and mark nonbelievers as enemies . . . It needs to be dealt with." Wahhabism was founded in the 18th century by the cleric Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, who preached an austere brand of Islam that barkens to the prophet Mohammed. Historians say the modern Saudi state is led by an alliance of his followers, who handle the kingdom's religious affairs, and the royal Saud family. Saudi Embassy officials did not respond to requests for comment yesterday evening. But in the past they and their defenders have said critics of Wahhabism exhibit an anti-Islamic bias and want to disrupt the U.S.-Saudi alliance. Saudi officials discourage the use of the term Wahhabism to describe their religious view, preferring the term Salafism. Witnesses at the hearing did not provide many details about the Saudi religious establishment's spending practices around the world ~ a problem confronted by Wahhabism's critics for years, in part because of the Saudis' traditional secrecy about their affairs. Alex Alexiev, an expert on extremist movements and a fellow at the conservative Center for Security Policy, cited figures in Saudi government reports showing that between 1975 and 2002, the government had spent $ 70 billion on aid projects around the world. He said it was unclear whether this included the large sums in private donations doled out by Saudi-regulated foundations. ..

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The Two Faces of Saudi Arabia Monday, December 02, 2002 FOX NEWS This is a partial transcript from The Beltway Boys, November 30, that has been edited for clarity. Click here to order the complete transcript. Watch The Beltway Boys Saturday at 6 p.m. ET and Sunday at 1 and 6 a.m. ET FRED BARNES, CO-HOST: Welcome back to The Beltway Boys. Our next guest says the most dangerous and oppressive brand of Islamic extremism isn't found in Iran or Iraq but in America's closest Arab ally, Saudi Arabia. And he says it's about time the Bush administration wises up. He's journalist Stephen Schwartz, author of the new book The Two Faces of Islam: The House ofSaud, From Tradition to Terror. Welcome, Steve. STEPHEN SCHWARTZ, AUTHOR, THE TWO FACES OF ISLAM: Great to be here. BARNES: Well, I've read your book. It's a terrific book. I highly... SCHWARTZ: Thank you. BARNES:... recommend it. But here's my first question, and that is, as you know, the wife of the Saudi Arabian ambassador to the United States gave some money to a man who turned out to be a close friend and supporter of two of the September 11 hijackers. SCHWARTZ: That's right. BARNES: Now, is this a scandal? What do you make of this? SCHWARTZ: Well, I think this shows the situation inside the House of Saud, inside the Saudi government, and inside all of its institutions, including its embassies and other diplomatic institutions. The connection of the House of Saud with Wahhabism, this extremist form of Islam, is so close that it's almost - it would be hard to imagine the president - the princess not realize, not realizing that, that this would be a problem to hand this money around. It's very hard for me to accept that idea, because she knows that the whole of Saudi society is saturated with this extremism. She knows that they supported the Taliban, did all these other things. It just doesn't make any sense to me to suggest that this was done in some unknowing way. JUAN WILLIAMS, GUEST CO-HOST: Now, Steve, how many of the 9/11 hijackers subscribed to this radical brand of Islam called Wahhabism?

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7/14/03

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channel Saudi Arabia: Where Does It Stand? Friday, May 16, 2003 FOX NEWS This is a partial transcript of Special Report with Brit Hume, May 9, that has been edited for clarity. Click here to order the complete transcript. Watch Special Report With Brit Hume weeknights at 6 p.m. ET (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JOHN ASHCROFT, ATTORNEY GENERAL: We believe that we have had good cooperation with the Saudis. We believe we that want to continue to improve our cooperation and upgrade our performance, not only with the Saudis, but with people around the world, and our own capacity to deal with terror. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIT HUME, HOST: The U.S. government seems caught these days between warning its old ally Saudi Arabia (search) that it needs to face up to terrorism in its country. And at the same time, as ypu heard there, praising the Saudis for their cooperation. And that reflects a real debate about Saudi Arabia - is/ita U.S. friend and ally on the war on terror? Or is it a medieval dictatorship that has tried to cope with terrorism by both supporting and exporting it? One who holds the latter view is Steven Schwartz, of the Foundation of Defense of the Democracies and author of the book, The Two Faces of Islam. Welcome to you, sir. STEPHEN SCHWARTZ, AUTHOR, THE TWO FACES OF ISLAM: Good to be here.

HUME: So, what is it that this recent terrorist attack in Saudi Arabia tells us that we should have known or at least didn't know before? SCHWARTZ: Well, it seems to me we have to recognize the fact that this is a society suffused with the terrorist ideology. The Saudi state is based on a terrorist ideology, Wahhabism (search), which is the most extreme sect of Islam, and is the state sect, inside Saudi Arabia. HUME: Now, stop. Let me stop you right there for a moment. SCHWARTZ: Yes, sir. HUME: Wahhabism, cast as you cast it, certainly threatens the Saudi royal family, doesn't it?

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SCHWARTZ: No. There's a division in the Saudi royal family. Wahhabism supports the Saudi royal family. The between the Saudi royal family and the Wahhabis goes back 250 years.

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The thing is, that the royal family has managed Wahhabism until now. But now, on the one side, there are forces in

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7/14/03

38 of 338 DOCUMENTS Copyright 2003 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. www.mcgraw-hill.com All rights reserved Business Week March 17, 2003

SECTION: NEWS; Analysis & Commentary: THE MONEY TRAIL; Number 3824; Pg. 38 LENGTH: 1606 words HEADLINE: THE CASH SQUEEZE ON TERROR INC. BYLINE: By Mike McNamee and Lorraine Woellert in Washington, with Carol Matlack in Paris, and bureau reports HIGHLIGHT: Key arrests could help choke off al Qaeda financing BODY: Intelligence officials rejoiced over news that al Qaeda operations chief Khalid Sheik Mohammed had been nabbed in Pakistan on Mar. 1 and spirited out of the country by U.S. agents. Suspected of being the key organizer of the September 11 attacks, Mohammed is allegedly one of the biggest fish snared to date in the U.S.-led crackdown on Osama bin Laden's terror network. Almost as encouraging — though less high-profile -- is the slow but steady progress being made in cracking al Qaeda's fund-raising network. In the drive to dry up bin Laden's money taps, an operative captured alongside Mohammed may turn out to be equally crucial. Mustafa Ahmed al-Hawsawi, a 34-year-old Saudi, set up the bank accounts used by the September 11 hijackers and received $ 25,000 in cash that the 19 operatives returned in the days before the attack, FBI Director Robert Mueller told Congress. Al-Hawsawi is "a big cog in the machinery that moves al Qaeda money around the Middle East," says terrorism expert Neil C. Livingstone, chairman of security consultants GlobalOptions Inc. On Mar. 4, U.S. prosecutors unsealed charges against Sheik Mohammed Ali Hasan Al-Moayad, a Yemeni cleric tied to Brooklyn's al Farouq mosque. The FBI alleges his associates regularly solicited funds at al Farouq and that he boasted to an informant of raising $ 20 million and delivering it personally to bin Laden. Al-Moayad denies the charges. A spokesman for the mosque said it is "just a place of worship." Coming on the heels of a spate of U.S. and European moves to shut down charitable fronts used to fund terrorism, these skirmishes in the money war are beginning to give harried anti-terror officials a glimmer of hope. The disruption in [al Qaeda's] funding flow is substantial and real," concludes a senior U.S. official involved in the campaign. But disruption isn't destruction ~ and the financial warriors still have a long battle ahead. The wellsprings of terror cash — donations raised in mosques and by Islamic charities — have hardly been touched. And the man U.S. intelligence officials suspected of being al Qaeda's financial mastermind, Sheik Said al-Masri, remains at large. And while the U.S. Treasury has put American banks on high alert to catch dirty money, other governments don't feel the same urgency. Even as they publicly praise the international community for cooperating in the war on terrorist financing, U.S. officials complain privately that foreign government support has been "spotty at best." Part of the problem comes from Washington. Pleas by Treasury Secretary John W. Snow for allies, to curb money flows are drowned out by other messages, including the Bush Administration's calls to shore up support for war in Iraq. Indeed, that's why U.S. officials are thought to be going easy now on countries, most notably Saudi Arabia, where terror flinders thrive.

Saudi Arabia, press releases, 12/03/02: Saudi Arabia announces counter terrorism measures Page 1 of 3

PRESS RELEASES CURRENT .NEWS

Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia Information Office Washington, B.C.

PRESS RELEASE December 3, 2002

HOME STATEMENTS AND

SPEECHES

Saudi Arabia Announces Counter-Terrorism Measures The Government of Saudi Arabia today revealed a number of substantial legal and regulatory changes enacted over the past year to counter terrorism. Important steps have recently been taken to control charitable funds, prevent money laundering, and improve multi-lateral cooperation. In cooperation with the United States and other countries, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been on the forefront of the war on terrorism. Today's announcement was made to correct misperceptions about the Kingdom in this area. "For too long, Saudi Arabia has been wrongly accused of being uncooperative or ineffective in combating terrorism," stated Adel AlJubeir, the Foreign Policy Advisor to Crown Prince Abdullah. "The unfounded charges against Saudi Arabia have gotten out of control. We recognize that it is now incumbent on us to more openly articulate our anti-terrorism policies and actions." One of the most noteworthy developments is in the area of charitable organizations. Charitable giving is an important part of Islam and there are hundreds of legitimate charities throughout the Kingdom. Saudi Arabia has recently completed a thorough review of its charitable organizations and has made a number of specific changes. For example, all charities are now subject to extensive audits to ensure that the funds provided by donors are used for their intended purposes. In addition, charities whose activities extend beyond'Saudi Arabia's borders must now report and coordinate their activities with the Foreign Ministry. Saudi Arabia has also established a High Commission for oversight of all charities, and is in the final stage of setting up detailed Operational Procedures to track all donations to and from the charities. The Government of Saudi Arabia believes these combined changes will substantially decrease its charitable sector's vulnerability to abuse by evil-doers. According to Al-Jubeir: "Probably the most significant new action we have taken has been in the area of charitable giving. In the past, we may have been naive in our giving and did not have adequate controls over all of our donations. As a consequence, some may have taken advantage of our charity and generosity. With the new steps we are taking, this is now changing." Saudi Arabia also announced plans to re-invigorate the joint CounterTerrorism Committee with the United States to include, in addition to intelligence and law enforcement personnel, personnel with financial

http://saudiembassy.net/press_release/releases/02-PR-1203-terror.htm

5/27/03

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U.S. Stepping Up Pressure on Saudis Wednesday, November 27,2002 FOX NEWS WASHINGTON — The Bush administration is stepping up pressure on Saudi Arabia to block contributions to charitable organizations that end up funding terrorist activities. "Those funds could get misused and where we have this information we make it available to the Saudis," Secretary of State Colin Powell said Tuesday from Mexico City. But Bush administration officials say ad hoc government groups are probing ways to tighten financial controls worldwide and dry up support for terrorists. No specific recommendations have been made. "It's appropriate to have a broad group look at a number of options, so it's helpful to have ideas kicked around," said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer. "The president believes that Saudi Arabia has been a good partner in the war against terrorism ... but even a good partner like Saudi Arabia can do more in the war." The Washington Post on Tuesday reported that a National Security Council task force is recommending a plan to force the Saudis to crack down on terrorist financiers and threatens unilateral U.S. action against suspects. The report also said that Bush's top national security advisers approved the idea but wanted to review it more thoroughly before sending it to Bush. But Powell dismissed the story. "There is no substance to those reports. I have no kno"-.-!odge of any such study developing the conclusions we should issue ultimatums or take unilateral action." Meanwhile, a Saudi man denied reports that he forwarded money from Saudi Princess Haifa al-Faisal, wife of the Saudi ambassador to Washington, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, to two of the Sept. 11 hijackers who crashed a plane into the Pentagon. Osama Basnan told the London-based, Saudi-owned newspaper Asharq al-AwsatVha\e used the money for medical care for his wife, Palestinian Majeda Dweikat -- a mother of six who needed surgery - and that he hadn't met the terrorists. Bandar told The New York Times that he regretted that the donations were unfairly putting a strain on U.S.-Saudi relations, but that the link between the two countries remains strong. "This is a war and we are in it together," Bandar said from his northern Virginia home. His wife told the newspaper she was "outraged when people think I can be connected to terrorists when all I wanted to do was to give some help to someone in need." "My mother taught us never to judge anyone by what you hear without any proof, and it seems that people are judging us without any proof," she said. Princess Haifa, 51, told the Times she felt as if a bomb was dropped on her head last weekend when reporters began calling her, asking about the contributions. She has been catapulted into such a political storm that prominent members of the GOP have been calling her offering their support.

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5/27/03

Saudi Arabia, press releases, 11/24/02: Princess Haifa refutes charge of terrorist financing

Page 1 of 1

Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia Information Office RELEASES

Washington, D.C.

CURRENT NEWS

PRESS RELEASE

November 24, 2002 HOME STATEMENTS AND SPEECHES

STATEMENT ISSUED BY PRINCESS HAIFA AL-FAISAL

HRH Princess Haifa AI-Faisal, wife of HRH Prince Bandar bin Sultan, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the United States, today said: "I heard U.S. lawmakers in the American media today say that money that I have donated to a needy Saudi family living in the United States was transferred to two Saudi 9-11 terrorists. "My father, King Faisal, was killed in a terrorist act in 1975. I find that accusations that I contributed funds to terrorists outrageous and completely irresponsible. "This is the time for people to come together to combat the scourge of terrorism so that others will not suffer the loss of loved ones." - end -

http://saudiembassy .net/press_release/releases/02-PR-1124-Haifa.htm

5/27/03

TME.tui'ii. A Saudi In The Hot Seat -- May. 12,2003

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Saudi Arabian Defense Minister Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz must have privately cheered last week after the U.S. announced that thousands of its troops stationed in his country would soon be gone. Their posting has long been a prickly political matter for the Saudis and has provided a fat target for al-Qaeda's propaganda. Osama bin Laden considered the foreign military presence sacrilegious and made the removal of U.S. soldiers a central objective of his holy war against the West. But the Prince's bin Laden — related troubles may not be over, and not only because the terrorist leader is still gunning for his family. Sultan is one of scores of defendants in a $1 trillion lawsuit brought by relatives of those who died in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The plaintiffs allege that Sultan made large donations to Islamic charities that supported the Sept. 11 hijackers. Sultan's attorneys at the law firm Baker Bolts, where former Secretary of State James Baker is partner, counter that Sultan's contributions came from government coffers and were disbursed by the Prince in his role as a Saudi official. If the latter is proved, say his attorneys, the Prince would be shielded from legal action under U.S. law.

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But the situation is not so clear cut. The al Sauds are often accused of running their country like a family business, controlling virtually every official post. Separating private contributions from official ones may prove difficult. A review of Saudi official declarations by TIME revealed half a dozen references to Sultan's donations as being "personal." The Saudi Press Agency, a wing of the Ministry of Information, lists $266,000 donated by Sultan to the International Islamic Relief Organization as a "personal" contribution. U.S. and Canadian authorities **

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audi Envoy in L.A. Is Deported

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Saudi Envoy in L.A. Is Deported • Prayer leader at King Fahd Mosque is suspected of having links to terrorists, officials say. By Patrick J. McDonnell, Times Staff Writer

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A Saudi consular official and Muslim prayer leader based in Los Angeles was denied entry to the United States this weekend expelled from the country because of suspected terrorist links, according to law enforcement officials and documents. Fahad al Thumairy, 31, part of the Saudi Consulate here since 1996, was detained at Los Angeles International Airport on Tuesday after arriving on a Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt. He carried a Saudi passport and an A-2 visa normally issued to diplomats or government dignitaries. U.S. authorities, acting on undisclosed intelligence information, revoked the visa in March — a fact apparently unknown to al Thumairy. After two days in custody, al Thumairy was expelled from the country Thursday and put aboard a Frankfurt-bound flight with connections to Saudi Arabia, officials said. The terms of his expulsion ban him from returning to the United States for five years.

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"He was placed on an international flight, destined for Riyadh," said Virginia Kice, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security. At the consulate, al Thumairy held a diplomatic post in the Islamic and cultural affai He also served as a prayer leader at the King Fahd Mosque in Culver City, one of So California's largest Muslim houses of worship. A many as 1,000 worshipers gather at the blue and white mosque on Fridays, the Mi day. The worshipers include many immigrants from Asia, Africa, the Middle East ar along with U.S.-born Muslims. The Saudi government helped finance construction of the King Fahd Mosque, part o government's practice of promoting Islam abroad. The Arab kingdom also funds construction of other mosques, prints and distributes i provides prayer leaders and religious speakers worldwide. Members of the Saudi roy including the ailing King Fahd, view themselves as the caretakers of Islam and its he shrines. Since Sept. 11, 2001, U.S. officials have stepped up scrutiny of visa applicants from Arabia and other Muslim nations, while launching a program to register and questioi

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;audi£ovgrrmjent: Bin Laden Loyalists: How High Do They Go?

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A Saudi diplomat met an al-Qaeda ring leader at this mosque

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Saudi Government: Bin Laden Loyalists: How High Do They Go? How far will the Saudi government go to root out Qaeda loyalists within its own ranks By Michael Isikoff NEWSWEEK

May 5 issue — Moving to quell an embarrassing scandal, Saudi Arabian authorities recently detained for questioning one of their own diplomats amid suspicions that he may have funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars out of official Saudi accounts to Al Qaeda operatives in Europe, NEWSWEEK has learned. E-MAIL THIS

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: News INEWSNIGHT I Greg Palest report transcript - 6/11/01

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This transcript is produced from the teletext subtitles that are generated live for Newsnight. It has been checked against the programme as broadcast, however Newsnight can accept no responsibility for any factual inaccuracies. We will be happy to correct serious errors. Has someone been sitting on the FBI? 6/1 1/01 GREG PALAST: I The CIA and Saudi Arabia, the Bushes and the Bin Ladens. Did their connections cause America to turn a blind eye to terrorism?

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Feedback JOE TRENTO, (AUTHOR, "SECRET HISTORY OF He.pTHECIA11): The sad thing is that thousands of Americans had to LOW Graphics die needlessly. PETER ELSNER: How can it be that the former President of the US and the current President of the US have business dealings with characters that need to be investigated? PALAST: In the eight weeks since the attacks, over 1,000 suspects and potential witnesses have been detained. Yet, just days after the hijackers took off from Boston aiming for the Twin Towers, a special charter flight out of the same airport whisked 11 members of Osama Bin Laden's family off to Saudi Arabia. That did not concern the White House. Their official line is that the Bin Ladens are above suspicion - apart from Osama, the black sheep, who they say hijacked the family name. That's fortunate for the Bush family and the Saudi royal household, whose links with the Bin Ladens could otherwise prove embarrassing. But Newsnight has obtained evidence that the FBI was on the trail of other members of the] Bin Laden family for links to terrorist

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Drawing a Line in the Saudi Sand By Matthew Levitt, senior fellow in terrorism studies The Washington Institute for Near East Policy National Review Online, April 16, 2003

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With the Iraqi regime defeated and military victory near at hand, the United States and it allies are positioned to leverage greater cooperation in the war on terror from key Arab states, chief among them Saudi Arabia. For all its rhetoric, and its limited actions, Saudi Arabia remains part of the problem of international terrorism, not the answer. To be sure, Saudi Arabia has made several contributions to the war on terror - albeit limited and intermittent. In one instance, Saudi agents reportedly infiltrated two domestic al Qaeda cells, leading to the arrest last June of over 75 al Qaeda members of several nationalities, including Saudis. Saudi security services have thwarted terror attacks targeting Western interests in the Kingdom. Still, even those counterterror efforts in which the Saudis do engage are inconsistent. While limited operations have been conducted in the tactical realm of preventing near term attacks on Saudi soil, the Saudis have proved far less cooperative in critical strategic areas such as combating terror financing or assisting international terrorism investigations. The actions the Saudis daim to have already implemented amount to little more than window dressing, when what is needed is concrete and concerted action. If the Saudis acted on the four following issues, they would make a significant contribution to the reinvigorated counterterror offensive to follow the removal of Saddam and liberation of Iraq. Critically, the only question is whether the Saudis are willing to take such action; they are certainly capable. These are actions the Saudi regime is capable of taking, and should therefore be expected and held accountable to implement. Action in these areas is the yardstick by which the West should measure Saudi cooperation in the war on terror: 1. Assist International Terror Investigations. Saudi officials are not only insufficiently cooperative in terrorism investigations, they have obstructed several recent investigations into key terrorism suspects. Violating a U.S. Grand Jury subpoena order and State Department regulations, Saudi diplomats in Washington secreted Maha Hafeez Marri

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A Legal Counterattack Saudis hire some of the toniest U.S. law firms to defend them against the landmark $1 trillion lawsuit on behalf of the victims of 9-11. So why is the plaintiff's counsel ecstatic? Plus, new heat on radical imam NEWSWEEK WEB EXCLUSIVE

April 16 — After months of working below the radar, a huge U.S. legal team hired by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has sprung into action and begun a major counteroffensive against a landmark lawsuit seeking $1 trillion in damages on behalf of the victims of the September 11 terror attacks. • E-MAIL THIS"* 5

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; Email this report to a friend 21 November 2002, Volume 2, Number 40

END NOTE Bankrolling Terror: A Special RFE/RL Report On Terrorist Financing By Roman Kupchinsky THE STRUCTURE EMERGES: In the late 1980s and early 1990s a series of discussions took place among Islamic activists throughout the world. The topic was the primacy of the ummah, the great faith, over nation states and the need for some type of loose international network which would help create a nonterritorial Islamic state. An emerging view was succinctly stated by Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, head of the Marka-ul-Dawa-il Irshad and its armed wing the Lashkar-e-Toiba (both suspected of having strong ties to the Al-Qaeda network) operating in Kashmir: "There is a need to raise a pure Islamic movement in the sub-continent. The Muslims can be steered to the right path by giving them the right ideology, calling them to Jihad and forging integrity among their ranks (Jama'at-ud-Da'awa website, http://www.jamatdawa.org/english/articles/) An even more lucid description of this line of thinking can be found in the October-November 1996 issue of "Nida" ul Islam" (The Call of Islam), a militant-Islamic magazine published in Australia, in which Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden said this about the collective responsibility of the Muslim community against Westernism: "What bears no doubt in this fierce Judeo-Christian campaign against the Muslim world, the likes of which has never been seen before, is that the Muslims must prepare all possible might to repel the enemy, militarily, economically, through missionary activity, and all other areas." As these discussions were taking place, the internationalization of Islamic militancy was growing. The number of faithful making the pilgrimage to Mecca was vastly growing as people came from all corners of the globe. Students from Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines were studying in the Middle East where they were able to exchange ideas and create close friendships. The network was being created. The Soviet Union had ceased to exist for all practical purposes and its war in Afghanistan was over. The war, however, had produced unexpected results for the Islamic world in the form of a loosely knit group of veterans. Some 5,000 Saudis, 3,000 Yemenis, 2,800 Algerians, 2,000 Egyptians, and other non-Afghans had fought in Afghanistan. They were returning home victorious. These were men trained to fight, build bombs, and train others to do the same. Soon these men were involved in creating such terrorist organizations as the Jemaah Islamiyah and the Vanguards of Conquest in Egypt. "Jane's Intelligence Digest" from 28 September 2001 describes how the Afghan vets went about setting up the network. In Algeria, the Algerian Armed Islamic Group (GIA) began the reign of terror which thus far has taken over 100,000 lives; others headed for the Philippines and joined the newly formed Abu Sayyaf guerillas. Some went to Chechnya. In Indonesia, a former Afghan veteran, Ridyan Isamuddin, better known as Hambali, became the main go-between between Al-Qaeda and the Jemaah Islamiyah, the Islamic group fighting for a pan-Islamic Southeast Asia. Jemaah Islamiyah had its origins in a small Islamic school - the Al Mukmin Quranic Studies Boarding School - founded in the Ngruki village of Solo, Indonesia, by Abu Bakar and Emir Sheikh Abdullah Sungkar, another Indonesian cleric also of Hadrami descent. Abu Bakar and Sheikh Abdullah are reported to have traveled to Afghanistan during the 1980s, where they fought alongside Osama bin Laden in the war against the former Soviet Union. Jemaah Islamiyah was allegedly brought into the Al-Qaeda network in the 1980s. Some 200 veterans of the Afghan war settled in the New York/New Jersey region where some of them congregated around the New Jersey mosque where Omar Abdel Rahman preached. By 1993 Rahman was plotting the bombing of the World Trade Center.

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Washington Asks, How Firm Are Saudis on Extremists?

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Washington Asks, How Firm Are Saudis on Extremists?

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ASHINGTON, May 13 — The suicide bombing on Monday night in Riyadh that killed at least seven Americans has revived a sharp debate here over whether Saudi Arabia has moved firmly enough to fight Islamic militancy within its borders and to stanch the flow of money to terrorist groups overseas, lawmakers and Middle East experts say. Since the Sept. 11 attacks, in which 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi citizens, the Saudi government has tried to silence its American critics by taking a number of well-publicized measures to counter extremists and to cooperate in the Americanled fight against terrorism.

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The Bush administration has applauded these moves, which have included a crackdown on charitable foundations suspected of financing terrorism and greater intelligence sharing and coordination on counterterrorism. Today, a State Department spokesman, Philip T. Reeker, said the United States had had "good cooperation" from the Saudis on counterterrorism initiatives. But critics, who include both conservative Republicans and liberal Democrats, contend that the latest bombings show that those steps have been inadequate. The Saudi royal family, the critics argue, remains ambivalent about cracking down on the militant clerics and their sympathizers who have provided religious guidance and financial sustenance to Al Qaeda.

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/14/internationaymiddleeast/14DIPL.html?ex=10534896... 5/14/2003

Country: Afghanistan, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia Topic: INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL, TERRORISM /ource-Date: 03/31/2003

German Report Details Saudi Links To Arrested Berlin Terror Suspects, Al-Qa'ida EUP20030331000328 Hamburg Der Spiegel in German 31 Mar 03 pp 70-72 Reference: Germany: Saudi Diplomat's Alleged Contact With Suspected Terrorists Reported EUP20030326000359 Hamburg Spiegel Online WWW-Text German 26 Mar 03 Germany Examining Al-Qa'ida Link After Arrest of Six Islamists EUP20030324000323 Hamburg Der Spiegel German 24 Mar 03 [Report by Georg Mascolo and Holger Stark: "The Saudi Connection"] [FBIS Translated Text] The arrested Tunisian terrorist suspects obviously had a prominent supporter — an attache from the Saudi Embassy in Berlin apparently provided financial and logistical support. The special operation command to arrest Tunisian terrorist suspect Ben S. was already on the way when on Thursday of the week before last [20 March], all of a sudden and completely unexpectedly, big politics came into play. Excitedly, his pursuers from the Federal Office for Criminal Investigations (BKA) reported that the man had just disappeared into an official-looking building. It might even be the Embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, they said.