The True "Axis of Evil" Saudi Arabia-Pakistan-al-Qaida ????

[Hi Bias]

This information has been speculated on for some time. Now it is in print.

SAUDIS PAID BIN LADEN HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS
Sun Aug 25 2002 10:26:26 ET

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

END

Information the U. S. government probably knew, now for public consumption. What do you think?

[diamond]

wow

there r prolly alot of folk who arent entirely pure in this epic struggle..
db9

[speedracer]

It's a very good example of how not to combat terrorism.

[CannibalisticArtist]

yep, kinda like when the US funded the taliban to fight against russia. bad choices.

[Anthony]

This is, I'm sad to say, not in the least bit surprising.

Ant.

[LOVE MUSCLE]

No suprise to me.

I'm not exactly a fan of the Saudis.

Thats putting it very nicely.

[speedracer]

Originally posted by CannibalisticArtist
yep, kinda like when the US funded the taliban to fight against russia. bad choices.

I think you mean the mujaheddin, not the Taliban.

[Anthony]

I second your sentiments concerning the Saudis, LOVE_MUSCLE. My beef is with their government, in particular.


Ant.

[CannibalisticArtist]

Originally posted by speedracer


I think you mean the mujaheddin, not the Taliban.

yes sorry, that's what i meant.

[LOVE MUSCLE]

Originally posted by Anthony
I second your sentiments concerning the Saudis, LOVE_MUSCLE. My beef is with their government, in particular.


Ant.

Exactly.

I hate to bring this up but; on Rush Limbaugh one day he mentioned President Bush's meeting with the almighty CROWN PRINCE ABDULLAH and he said (not a quote btw, from my memory) "IF I were President Bush I would be asking him (Abdullah) wtf is going on in YOUR country???? (Re: the 14-15 hijackers of 911 are Saudis) WTF are you teaching your people over there?????"

Not an exact quote, obviously, but a damn fine point.

I hate to generalize, but my own personal experience with Saudi Arabia and the Saudis leads me to believe they are arrogant hypocrites.

I learned a lot while I was over there, WAY too much!

In Egypt, however, they are more relaxd and accepting. I actually had an armed police escort downtown to get christmas lights (in September lol) and buy a 'Batman Forever" cassette tape.

I also walked inside the largest of the Great Pyramids at Giza, climbed up to a central tomb and looked inside. But that is a different story!


*spelling EDITs

[U2Bama]

Originally posted by LOVE MUSCLE


In Egypt, however, they are more relaxd and accepting. I actually had an armed police escort downtown to get christmas lights (in September lol) and buy a 'Batman Forever" cassette tape.
I also walked inside the largest of the Great Pyramids at Giza, climbed up to a central tomb and looked inside. But that is a different story!

And Egypt hosted the Grateful Dead for a series of concerts at the foot of those Great Pyramids, along with many drug-induced fans. More relaxed indeed. A local oral surgeon in my town went to that concert and wrote an article about it.

~U2Alabama

[Danospano]

Well, well.....WELL! Yet again we've learned that there's more to 9/11 than we once thought.

This proves that I'm right and all those patriotic "Americans" were wrong. The Saudi's, our supposed friends in foriegn affairs were well aware of the attacks, yet didn't tell us (or did they?), but due to economic interests we continue to rely on them for oil imports.

I guess money is more important than human life.

I'm going to stop now, before I right something that will piss even more people off!

To end on a happy note I'd like to say that Bruce Springsteen ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!

[Lilly]

Originally posted by Danospano
Well, well.....WELL! Yet again we've learned that there's more to 9/11 than we once thought.

This proves that I'm right and all those patriotic "Americans" were wrong.

i don't know who you are referring to with the "partriotic 'Americans'" remark. but i don't know very many americans that accepted that there was only one aspect to september 11th. by 10 am that day we were all assuming it was bin laden, which was what was being reported. but i don't know one american that accepted that he and the taliban were the only ones behind this. i am also unsure of why "americans" are in quotes.

[speedracer]

Originally posted by Danospano
Well, well.....WELL! Yet again we've learned that there's more to 9/11 than we once thought.

This proves that I'm right and all those patriotic "Americans" were wrong. The Saudi's, our supposed friends in foriegn affairs were well aware of the attacks, yet didn't tell us (or did they?), but due to economic interests we continue to rely on them for oil imports.

I guess money is more important than human life.

I'm going to stop now, before I right something that will piss even more people off!

To end on a happy note I'd like to say that Bruce Springsteen ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!

Ah yes Danospano, gracious and humble as always.

Forget the oil aspect for now. If we nixed our alliance with Saudi Arabia right now, there's a very good chance that one of two things might happen:

1. Iraq might invade Saudi Arabia.
2. al-Qaeda might overthrow the house of Saud.

I don't see an easy answer here.