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'Chilling'
details about alleged Saudi involvement in 9/11 revealed in
declassified documents
The
newly-released material is said to largely resemble a top-secret
report known as the '28 pages'
Katie Forster
@katieforster
A series of
declassified memos have revealed details of interviews - described by
investigators as “chilling” - from the inquiry into alleged
support of the 9/11 terrorist attacks by Saudi Arabian officials.
According to a
former Commission staff member, the newly released material largely
duplicates a top-secret report known as the '28 pages', which
reportedly includes sensitive findings relating to allged Saudi
involvement in 9/11.
Fahad al-Thumairy, a
32-year-old Imam and former Saudi diplomat deported from the US in
2003 because of suspected terrorist links, was questioned in Saudi
Arabia by members of the 9/11 Commission in February 2004.
A member of
Commission staff later said “it was so clear Thumairy was lying,”
according to The Guardian. “It was also so clear he was dangerous.”
It is also reported that the investigators described the scene as
"chilling".
When confronted with
evidence of numerous phone calls between himself and Omar al-Bayoumi,
a Saudi national who allegedly befriended two of the 9/11 hijackers,
al-Thumairy denied any knowledge of Mr al-Bayoumi.
The document states
that when Mr al-Thumairy was presented with more confrontational
questions during the interrogation, “his posture changed
noticeably”.
Mr al-Thumairy is
said to have crossed his arms, sat back in his chair and relied more
heavily on the interpreter when questioned about his connections to
two Saudi hijackers who had lived in southern California before 9/11.
The interviews were
conducted between 2002 to 2004 by the 9/11 Commission, set up to
investigate the circumstances of the attacks. They have now been
published by the National Archives.
According to notes
from an interview, members of the Islamic Council of the Saudi
government said: “Funds were probably misused. Saudis have an
obligation to give to charity. People don’t ask questions about
where the money goes.”
“We used our
money. But we did not want our money to be used to attack the USA, or
to be turned against us.”
An interview with Mr
al-Bayoumi is also listed within the memos, in which he “agreed
that he had some telephone contact with al-Thumairy, which involved
discussion of [al-Bayoumi’s] questions on religious matters”.
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The document states
that Mr al-Bayoumi “considered al-Thumairy his religious advisor”,
but denied that he was ever his teacher, and “expressed surprise
that he might have held a position at the Consulate”.
Both Mr al-Thumairy
and Mr al-Bayoumi deny any links to terrorists.
On Thursday, a
former member of the Commission, John F Lehman, claimed that Saudi
government officials had supported the hijackers.
Mr Lehman said there
was an “awful lot of circumstantial evidence” that several
employees in the Saudi Ministry of Islamic Affairs had a hand in the
terrorist plot.
But he said that the
secret report produced by the FBI, known as the '28 pages', includes
no “smoking gun” relating to sensitive findings relating to Saudi
Arabia’s alleged involvement in 9/11.
Barack Obama has
said he is nearing a decision about whether to declassify the ‘28
pages’, which could have severe and widespread diplomatic
repercussions.
As many as six Saudi
officials could have supported the 9/11 hijackers, according to
statements made by Mr Lehman.
Those individuals
worked for the Saudi Embassy in the U.S., Saudi charities and the
Saudi government-funded King Fahd Mosque in California, he said.
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Arábia
à espera das páginas do relatório que ligam políticos do reino ao
11 de Setembro
04:03 Económico com
AFP
http://economico.sapo.pt/…/arabia-a-espera-das-paginas-do-r…
Em causa está a
divulgação das misteriosas 28 páginas de um relatório da
investigação norte-americana sobre os supostos vínculos entre os
atentados do 11 de Setembro e membros do governo saudita, e que
George W. Bush impediu que fossem publicadas, para proteger as
fontes.
A Arábia Saudita
está na expectativa da divulgação de um capítulo secreto do
relatório do Congresso dos Estados Unidos, que pode envolver seus
líderes nos atentados do 11 de Setembro de 2001, diz a Agência
France Press.
No país árabe,
teme-se que a eventual publicação do documento, 15 anos depois dos
ataques contra Nova Iorque e Washington, levante suspeitas num
momento de tensas relações bilaterais.
Em Dezembro de 2002,
um ano depois dos ataques, as Comissões de Inteligência da Câmara
de Representantes e do Senado divulgaram um relatório da
investigação americana sobre esses supostos vínculos.
O então presidente
dos EUA, George W. Bush, ordenou que fossem consideradas sigilosas 28
páginas desse documento, com o objectivo de proteger métodos e
identidades das fontes de Inteligência americanas.
No mês passado,
porém, o senador Bob Graham disse que o documento deveria ser
tornado público e declarou que os funcionários do governo saudita
ajudaram os terroristas do 11 de Setembro. Então o presidente da
Comissão de Inteligência do Senado, Graham, comentou que a Casa
Branca lhe disse que decidirá em Junho se divulgará essas páginas
do relatório.
O tema do suposto -
e categoricamente negado por Riad - vínculo saudita aos atentados
que deixaram cerca de 3.000 mortos voltou à tona com a intenção de
aprovar uma acção judicial contra o reino saudita.
Alguns familiares
das vítimas pressionam para que o Congresso aprove uma lei que
retire a imunidade soberana da Arábia Saudita.
Segundo a imprensa
árabe, o reino teria ameaçado retirar 750 mil milhões de euros em
investimentos dos Estados Unidos, se o Congresso aprovar a suspensão
da imunidade do país.
Riad insiste em que
não tem nada a temer com a divulgação dessas misteriosas 28
páginas.
"A nossa
posição, desde quando o relatório foi publicado em 2002, foi a de
dizer 'publiquem essas páginas'", lembrou o ministro saudita
das Relações Exteriores, Adel al-Jubeir, em Genebra, na semana
passada.
"Sabemos por
outros funcionários, altos quadros dos Estados Unidos, que as
acusações feitas nas 28 páginas não resistem a um exame rigoroso.
Então, sim, publiquem as 28 páginas", acrescentou.
Em Washington, o
documento do Congresso foi substituído em Julho de 2004 pelo
relatório final de uma comissão independente ordenada por W. Bush.
Esse painel não encontrou evidências de cumplicidade de
funcionários sauditas, mas o mistério sobre aquelas 28 páginas
continuou alimentando a suspeita.
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