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| The Alliance |
| Prince Nayef: 9-11 killers weren't Saudis |
| 2001-10-20 |
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- A full month after the FBI accused as many as nine Saudi citizens of involvement in the Sept. 11 hijackings, there has been no official information released here regarding any of the suspects. Nor has there been any public indication that a vigorous investigation is under way. Some political experts here chalk up Saudi Arabia's silence to sheer embarrassment and a familiar survival mechanism: Eager not to offend its Muslim populace, the rich but politically weak Saudi monarchy always prefers to work with its U.S. ally behind a cloak of secrecy. But, in recent days, as signs of tensions between Washington and Riyadh over their cooperation in the war against terrorism have bubbled into public view, the Saudis' reticence has begun hardening into something altogether different--an increasingly angry refrain of denial. Stung by American media complaints that it is not doing enough to help combat terrorism, and unhappy with the U.S.-led bombing campaign in Afghanistan, government officials have taken up a position once confined only to editorial pages here: dismissing FBI allegations that most of the 19 men involved in the attacks came from this hermetic desert kingdom. "We will stand by our innocent citizens," Prince Nayef, the minister of the interior and the official leading the Saudi investigations, said. Earlier in the week, Nayef, one of the most powerful members of the Saudi monarchy, declared that the Saudi government had not received any solid evidence from U.S. officials that linked Saudis to the attacks. "There were more than 600 passengers on the four hijacked planes," he said. "We are still wondering why they have singled out Arabs, especially Saudis." |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |