Saudi princes donated to al-Qaeda, claims 9/11 plotter Zacarias Moussaoui

[EndoftheWorld]

Saudi princes donated to al-Qaeda, claims 9/11 plotter Zacarias Moussaoui

PUBLISHED : Thursday, 05 February, 2015, 10:28am
UPDATED : Thursday, 05 February, 2015, 4:32pm

Agence France-Presse

Zacarias Moussaoui is shown in this undated police photograph. Photo: Reuters

The only al-Qaeda plotter convicted over the 9/11 attacks has told American lawyers that members of the Saudi royal family donated millions of dollars to the terror group in the 1990s.

French citizen Zacarias Moussaoui, dubbed the “20th hijacker”, made the claims in court papers filed in a New York federal court by lawyers for victims of the attacks who accuse Saudi Arabia of supporting al-Qaeda.

The Saudi embassy denied the allegations, branding Moussaoui “a deranged criminal whose own lawyers presented evidence that he was mentally incompetent.”

At trial in 2006, his lawyers argued that he suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and he exhibited stormy and unpredictable behaviour in court.

In testimony he said he created a database of al-Qaeda donors, including members of the royal family, such as former intelligence chief Prince Turki al Faisal and Prince Bandar bin Sultan, who was Saudi ambassador to the United States for 22 years until 2005.

Moussaoui said he met in Afghanistan an official from the Saudi embassy in Washington to discuss al-Qaeda’s plots to attack the United States, and that he was supposed to meet the same man again in the US capital for help on a plot to shoot down Air Force One.

He also claimed there were direct dealings between senior Saudi officials and then al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, saying he travelled to Saudi Arabia twice to deliver handwritten letters between the al-Qaeda mastermind and senior Saudis, including Prince Turki.

Denying the claims, the Saudi embassy said in a statement: “The September 11 attack has been the most intensely investigated crime in history and the findings show no involvement by the Saudi government or Saudi officials.”

Moussaoui, who was found criminally responsible at his trial in 2006, pled guilty to plotting the deadliest terror attacks in US history and is incarcerated at a supermax prison in Colorado.

A defence psychologist testified at Moussaoui’s trial to say he exhibited classic symptoms of schizophrenia.

Across 127 pages of transcript, Moussaoui said the money from wealthy Saudi donors was “crucial” to al-Qaeda in the late 1990s.

He talked about donations of two to three million dollars and said top-ranking officials were close to bin Laden, a fellow Saudi, through social connections.

 

[Strangelove]

Saudis are no different from Taliban / Al Qaeda

 

[vtran2684]

Saudis are no different from Taliban / Al Qaeda

Yes they are different. When their King dies, world leaders flock to the funeral.

 

[Mirage]

Yes they are different. When their King dies, world leaders flock to the funeral.

Louise Mensch says 'F**K YOU' in explosive tweets about David Cameron, Saudi Embassy and the Queen over King Abdullah tributes

The columnist and former Tory MP articulated her anger about Saudi human rights in a series of irate posts

Helen Nianias
Friday 23 January 2015

Louise Mensch tweeted her fury at Saudi human rights abuses, and at the politicians and heads of state who issued condolences at the death of King Abdullah.

David Cameron said he was “deeply saddned” by the Saudi king's death yesterday, and Obama boasted of his “friendship” with him. But Louise Mensch pointed out that his rule oversaw some horrific human rights abuses in a social media tirade.

The former Conservative MP for Corby tweeted “F**K YOU” in reply to a tweet that quoted the Prime Minister's sorrow at the king's death.

The #Freethe4 hashtag used by Mensch refers to the allegations that King Abdullah's four daughters have been detained.

Tweeting furiously all day Friday, Mensch expressed her frustration about the outpouring of grief by public officials in the face of Saudi Arabia's human rights record.

Mensch also took umbrage to the controversial decision to fly the flag outside Westminster Abbey at half mast in mourning for the king, who, among other things, oversaw a regime which banned women from driving and carried out public beheadings.

Prince Charles is to fly to Saudi Arabia to pay his respects to the late king.

 

[Mirage]

How the legal punishments handed out in Saudi Arabia compare to those of Isis

For many, the Saudi justice system sounds not unlike that of the Isis, the extremist Islamist group which has struck fear in much of the Middle East

Adam Taylor , Washington Post
Thursday 22 January 2015

Following the lashing of blogger Raif Badawi and leaked footage that showed the public execution of a woman accused of beating her daughter, Saudi Arabia's harsh interpretation of sharia law and its use of capital punishment have come under international scrutiny.

For many, the Saudi justice system sounds not unlike that of Isis, the extremist Islamist group also known as Islamic State, which has struck fear in much of the Middle East.

This week, Middle East Eye, a website that focuses on news from the region and is frequently critical of Saudi Arabia, contrasted a set of legal punishments recently announced by Isis with the corresponding punishments in Saudi Arabia.

Documents show IS & Saudi Arabia prescribe near-identical punishments for crimes http://t.co/ZoVVUqeHMn #ISIS #Saudi pic.twitter.com/kUEXqXCJiv
; Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) January 20, 2015

While Saudi Arabia isn't particularly forthcoming about its use of capital punishment (and Middle East Eye doesn't cite its source) and accurate information from within Isis's self-proclaimed caliphate is hard to ascertain, information from news sources and human rights organisations suggest the chart is at least broadly accurate.

Get Flash Player One key difference between Isis and Saudi Arabia, of course, is that the latter is a key US ally in the region – and a member of the US-led coalition fighting Isis. Some experts argue that the fundamentalist brand of Islam practiced by both has theological links, however, and Riyadh's recent crackdown has been interpreted as an act of appeasement for Saudi hard-liners.
In pictures: Raif Badawi release protests

Saudi Arabia's own concern about Isis is likely genuine (plans to build an enormous wall along its border with Iraq are a good sign of that), but for many Americans, the extremist group's rise is also bringing with it a renewed skepticism about American allies in the region.

©The Washington Post

 

[vtran2684]

This Mensch girl will be F back.

 

[retardface]

This Mensch girl will be F back.

What if she got her mensches?

 

[vtran2684]

What if she got her mensches?

can still get pregnant

 

[GOD IS MY DOG]

Saudi have always been financing terrorist groups............organization and training and arms by Israel and USA.............finance by Saudi, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait............may be UAE too.......

 

[vtran2684]

Saudi have always been financing terrorist groups............organization and training and arms by Israel and USA.............finance by Saudi, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait............may be UAE too.......

they've always also been providing oil.