This implication is quite serious. If any link does exist consequences of the most serious kind should be handed down.
Nov. 23 — The White House acknowledged Saturday that the FBI was investigating whether the Saudi government sent tens of thousands of dollars to two Saudi students who aided two of the Sept. 11 hijackers, confirming details of a Newsweek article that has put the Bush administration on the defensive as it seeks Saudi support for a potential attack on Iraq.
IN AN EXCLUSIVE article posted Friday night on its Web site, Newsweek quoted sources familiar with the investigation as saying checks amounting to about $3,500 a month were sent to the two students from a bank account in Washington in the name of Princess Haifa al-Faisal. She is the wife of the Saudi ambassador to the United States, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, and daughter of the late King Faisal.
The two students, Omar al-Bayoumi and Osama Basnan, provided financial help to Khalif al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi, who hijacked American Airlines Flight 77 with two other men and crashed it into the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001.
An official at the Saudi Embassy in Washington dismissed allegations that Princess Haifa intentionally aided the Sept. 11 hijackers as “absolutely ridiculous and irresponsible.”
The official, Nail al-Jubier, told NBC News said the princess had not been questioned by the FBI and was unaware of the allegations until Newsweek posted its report Friday night. The princess welcomed the investigation so she could clear her name, the official said.
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*Originally posted by AvgAmericanGirl: *
I read those news headlines also.
My thinking was 3500 a month? Well about almost enough money to live on per month in the U.S.
My first instinct was wondering if the money was paying for schooling? My next thought was horrible.
So I give her the benefit of the doubt.
If it was Saudi... then this woman is probobly a scapegoat and will absorb lots of blame whether or not she deserved it.
If she deserved it?
May she find peace.
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Schooling? Flight school?
Who knows, you would think the tracks would be covered up better, and maybe they were but the FBI sill uncovered them? But a investigation is needed to determine the facts and a coverup wont be acceptable this time.
Perhaps it would help to know that most people from the mideast who go abroad for studies, are financed by the government.
An adequate explanation has already been given for this. The US sources have found no link to the money that she sent, to any terror activities. The money was primarily meant for the medical expenses of the persons wife.
Count on the fbi to sensationalize anything under the sun.
The only thing that unites Saudi royal is their zeal to loot and plunder and rule, otherwise they are fractured and divided internally, some are perceived as “modern and progressive” (e.g., Saud Faisal) and some are perceived to be living in the 7th century (e.g., the Crown Prince). These two extremes are mainly face saving hoaxes, and the bottomline is their lust for power. Nothing can be put past them. Firstly, it was a private donation (since when is charitable foundation of a wife of an Ambassador considered “government”?), and for Saudis to not pass the buck sends some kind of message. Secondly, what good has that country done ever? The only thing this it has given to the world is religious extremism and terrorism. And oil.
Hey, come on. Bush resurfaced soon after he went into hiding on 11 Sept. morning. FBI only discovered that now???<<<
Yeah sure, monkeys in Iraq piss in plastic containers made in Japan. Awaz, Saudi Arabia is not in New York, in case you did not know.
I was listening to CNN today and they said, she gave money to some charities and those charities gave (among other things) a monthly stipend to a couple of Saudi students in USA, who in turn gave some money to two hijacking suspects.
I offer namaz at a mosque and while exiting the mosque my practice is always to put a few dollars in the donation box. It would seem to me that if in a future date it appeared that part of that money went to some people who offered a meal to a future terrorist, potentially the FBI can claim that Government of Pakistan funded the terrorist, because my father at one time worked as a civil servant in Pakistan.
Ofcourse, I don't know all the ins and outs of what the FBI is investigating, but based on what CNN said, this seemed too far-fetched to be anything meaningful, unless ofcourse this part of a well-coordinated media campaign to put pressure on the Saudi government to support US war on Iraq.
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*Originally posted by Akif: *
Perhaps it would help to know that most people from the mideast who go abroad for studies, are financed by the government. .
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I agree Akif, I had a number of Kuwaiti and saudi fellow students, and they all received stipens which were sent to them through teh government. there were different agencies , in some cases it was ministry of technology for engineering students, ministry of education for some general scholarships etc etc.
The stipends pay for tuition as well as rent, living expenses, entertainment and travel. From what I know, students are expected to keep a certain GPA. and the funds final disbursement is through local consulates.
I agree Akif, I had a number of Kuwaiti and saudi fellow students, and they all received stipens which were sent to them through teh government. there were different agencies , in some cases it was ministry of technology for engineering students, ministry of education for some general scholarships etc etc.
The stipends pay for tuition as well as rent, living expenses, entertainment and travel. From what I know, students are expected to keep a certain GPA. and the funds final disbursement is through local consulates.
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And this might be the case here but a full investigation is needed to find out, The Saudis should welcome an investigation (as the princess says she does).
Zig~Zag, it's called an investigation things turn up after the crime.
Ok. but, before that OBL was America's #1 enemy and they were investigating any terror threats related with him.
They did figure it out but unable to connect the dots.
Please expalin it to me what they mean when they say that?
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"They did figure it out but unable to connect the dots" It means they have all pieces of the puzzle but don't know how it fits together. Names, faces, dates, documents, testimony was all there. Lack of communication between different parties that could have fit it togather unfortunately was also present. .