Saudi Government Was Pursuing Bin Laden Prior To The Attacks On USA

The 9-11 Commission confirmed accounts of Saudi Arabi?s attempts to capture Osama bin Laden prior to 9-11 and efforts to foil Al-Qaeda terror attacks inside the Kingdom as early as 1998. The Saudi Arabian government was pursuing bin Laden and his Al-Qaeda network before the 9-11 attacks and these terrorists, in turn, were pursuing targets inside the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia before those attacks on the United States. Osama bin Laden fled Saudi Arabia 10 years before the 9-11 attacks. The government of Saudi Arabia revoked his citizenship in 1994. In 1996, he publicly denounced the government of Saudi Arabia.

According to the 9-11 Commission: “The CIA learned in the spring of 1998 that the Saudi government had quietly disrupted Bin Ladin cells in its country that were planning to attack US forces with shoulder-fired missiles. They had arrested scores of individuals, with no publicity.”

- According to the 9-11 Commission: “Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah, who had taken charge from the ailing King Fahd, promised (CIA Director George) Tenet an all-out secret effort to persuade the Taliban to expel Bin Ladin so that he could be sent to the United States or to another country for trial.”

The former head of Saudi intelligence Prince Turki Al-Faisal coordinated with CIA Director George Tenet to get Mullah Omar and other Taliban leaders to hand over bin Laden. According to the 9-11 Commission: “Yet in September 1998, when the Saudi emissary, Prince Turki, asked Mullah Omar whether he would keep his earlier promise to expel Bin Ladin, the Taliban leader said no. Both sides shouted at each other, with Mullah Omar denouncing the Saudi government. Riyadh then suspended its diplomatic relations with the Taliban regime.”

See also

• No Evidence Of Saudi Government Funding Of Al-Qaeda
• Saudi Flights Were Investigated And Handled Professionally

Main reference point:

• Conclusions of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks on the US

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Profile of Saudi Arabia

The Country Profile contains thousands of pages of information on every aspect of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, including its geography, history and development (political, economic and social).