Report: U.S. Backs Off Saudi Bank Linked to Militant Funding

[babylonsister]

Report: U.S. Backs Off Saudi Bank Linked to Militant Funding

The Wall Street Journal is reporting the U.S. has opted to take a hands-off approach to a Saudi bank U.S. intelligence has linked to the financing of militant Islamic extremists. The Al Rajhi bank is among vast holdings belonging to the Saudi billionaire Sulaiman Al Rajhi. The banks activities’ reportedly set off an intense debate within the Bush administration on how to take action. But confidential reports show the administration has ultimately chosen to quietly lobby Saudi monarchs rather than take punitive steps. U.S. intelligence says Al Rahji Bank has held accounts and accepted donations for charities formally designated as fronts for al Qaeda or other militant groups. The CIA concluded the Al Rahji family was knowingly involved. Al Rajhi Bank and the Al Rajhi family have denied any link to financing militants.

Found here (scroll down):

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/07/27/144210



US plays down talk of tension with Saudis

by Paul Handley Fri Jul 27, 1:20 PM ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US officials called security relations with Riyadh "very strong" despite a report saying Washington is frustrated with the Saudi role in Iraq, as Washington said it was readying a major arms package for Saudi Arabia.

On Friday the White House insisted the two allies are working closely to fight terror even as The New York Times reported that Washington believes the Saudis are trying to undermine the Baghdad government and have failed to stem the flow of volunteers joining the insurgency there.

According to the Times, the Saudis view Iraq's Shiite prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, as an agent of Iran and appear to have stepped up efforts to weaken his government, providing funding for Sunni groups.

While not addressing the Times report specifically, White House spokesperson Dana Perino insisted Friday that Washington and Riyadh are working closely on security issues.

"We have very strong relations on counter-terrorism measures," Perino said.

"We have worked very closely with Saudi Arabia."

more...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070727/pl_afp/usiraqsaudimideast_070727164926

[indepat]

1. God, it's so good to know these two allies are working closely to fight terror

[eleny]

2. !

:wtf:

[Ilsa]

3. Yep. Fly them out of the country on 9/12/01, ignore their transactions

that are terrorism funding activities, but sign an Executive order to block or seize assets of anyone in the US that may be discouraging Iraq rebuilding efforts.

Bush is such a piece of shit that it isn't even surprising anymore that they'd do this.

K&R #3.

[babylonsister]

10. And as far as I can tell, no one in Congress is even blinking. nt

[havocmom]

4. But it's fine & dandy to seize the assets of any of us on bush*s say so

What a farce this 'war on terra' is.

[angstlessk]

5. My sentiments exactly...American citizens are not nearly as protected

by our constitution as the Saudi royal family is! :grr:

[Miss Chybil]

6. Hmph! The Saudis have more leverage than the American people do

and more rights.

[AntiFascist]

7. Fight terror my ass!!

the whole point is to stir up civil war and terrorism so that the Saudi-US alliance can grab precious resources.

"We have worked very closely with Saudi Arabia."

On edit: please note that Saudi Arabia is also in talks with Iran to fight enemies of Islam - what the hell is going on here?

http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/070515/2007051502.html

Saudi - Iran ties to foil enemy plots: Rafsanjani
Saudi Arabia-Iran, Politics, 5/15/2007

Regular consultations between Iran and Saudi Arabia would prevent enemies of Islam from achieving their goals particularly on creating discord among Shiite and Sunni Muslims, Iran's Chairman of the Expediency Council Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said yesterday.


Rafsanjani made the remark in a telephone conversation with Saudi King Abdullah. The two sides exchanged views on ongoing developments in the region particularly the latest situation in Iraq.

They discussed problems of the Islamic world and expressed hope that cooperation between Iran and Saudi Arabia would lead to settlement of such issues.

Rafsanjani said cooperation among officials of the Islamic world would resolve problems in Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine.

King Abdullah said Iran has established a consolidated bond among Islamic nations and governments through its wisdom and farsightedness.

[dkofos]

8. It's good to know that *ushies and saudi's are working hard to fund

the terrorists.

[babylonsister]

9. That's it in a nutshell. Anyone hear anything about this from the media

whores?


chirp

[laststeamtrain]

12. "Anyone hear anything about this from the media whores?"

Yes, in the Wall Street Journal: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118530038250476405.html?mod=hps_us_pageone

[babylonsister]

13. I realize that was the original source; anywhere else? I haven't heard

a word, and you'd think this might raise a few eyebrows. Guess not.

[laststeamtrain]

14. You asked. I answered. Gold is where you find it. n/t

[MasonJar]

11. This should surprise no one. Bush has been gratuitously bailed

out of too many bad plights by the Saudis. They might not buy out his error next time. He'd have to ask daddy.

[paulthompson]

15. More than meets the eye

I posted this at the LBN thread on this article, and I'll post it here, too:


Glenn Simpson who wrote this article is a good journalist, one of the best. But he buried the lede here and failed to mention all kinds of important things. You can only tell obliquely from this one paragraph that Al Rajhi is the guy that funded the SAAR network:

"Two years earlier, federal agents raided the Virginia offices of a network of charities funded by Sulaiman Al Rajhi that worked closely with the IIRO and that -- according to Justice Department court filings -- provided funds to Palestinian terrorists. No charges have been filed."

That's a reference to the SAAR network, which he doesn't even mention by name. The SAAR network basically has ties to all kinds of terrorist funders. There is hardly an investigation into terrorist financing that doesn't connect with the SAAR network in some way. The very name of the SAAR network stands for the initials of the two brothers that are the main focus of Simpson's the article: Saleh Abdul Aziz al-Rajhi and Suliman Abdul Aziz al-Rajhi. SAAR. One of the brother's names and phone numbers was found in Wadih El Hage's address book in 1998. Who is Wadih El Hage? Bin Laden's personal secretary who was sentenced to life in prison for his role in the 1998 embassy bombings in Africa. Why didn't Glenn Simpson mention that?

But it gets worse, much worse. The book "Terrorist Hunter" by Rita Katz explains in detail what the SAAR network is and why it's so central to funding efforts for al-Qaeda and many other groups, despite being located close to Washington, DC. It ends with the shocking revelation that the CIA did all it could to block the SAAR investigation in 2002 and actually began investigating the investigators instead! Government agents were trailed 24 hours a day by CIA agents until they dropped the SAAR investigation.

Rita Katz concludes:

"Risking criticism for being unfoundedly paranoid, I must convey my theory about the investigation and the CIA's involvement in it. I don't know for certain what's the deal with the CIA investigating the SAAR investigators, but it sure feels as if someone up in that agency doesn't like the idea that the Saudi Arabian boat is rocked. The raids on had taken place already - the CIA couldn't change that - but invesetigating and giving the people behind the raids a hard time is a most efficient way of making sure the SAAR investigation stops there."

"The CIA clearly has an agenda. I don't think any of us will know what it is, not in the foreseeable future. But before an agency like that makes an alliance, it better be very careful of who it chooses to go to bed with. If the CIA is indeed trying to make such a deal again with regard to Saudi Arabia, all of us are in for a whole load of trouble. Not just because the SAAR investigation would be sabotaged, but mainly because collaborating with terrorists and their supporters, as history had proven again and again, may seem like a good idea at some point in time, but in the long run it always ends up being a distaster."


So this Wall Street Journal article is just the tip of the iceberg.

[babylonsister]

16. Ugh. Thanks for that info, I think. nt

[AntiFascist]

17. Three hijackers....check in the same hotel as a prominent Saudi official...

http://www.cooperativeresearch.net/context.jsp?item=a091001hussayen#a091001hussayen

one prosecutor working on a related case asserts, “I continue to believe it can’t be a coincidence.” <Wall Street Journal, 10/2/2003> The official, Saleh Ibn Abdul Rahman Hussayen, is interviewed by the FBI shortly after 9/11, but according to testimony from an FBI agent, the interview is cut short when Hussayen “feigns a seizure, prompting the agents to take him to a hospital, where the attending physicians <find> nothing wrong with him.” The agent recommends that Hussayen “should not be allowed to leave until a follow-up interview could occur.” However, that “recommendation, for whatever reason, <is> not complied with.” Hussayen returns to Saudi Arabia a few days later, as soon as the US ban on international flights has ended. <Washington Post, 10/2/2003> For most of the 1990s, Hussayen was director of the SAAR Foundation, a Saudi charity that is being investigated for terrorism ties and will be raided in early 2002 (see March 20, 2002). A few months after 9/11 he is named a minister of the Saudi government and put in charge of its two holy mosques. Hussayen had arrived in the US in late August 2001 planning to visit some Saudi-sponsored charities.

<snip>

His nephew, Sami Omar Hussayen, will be indicted in early 2004 for using his computer expertise to assist militant groups, and will be charged with administering a website associated with IANA, an organization which expressly advocated suicide attacks and using airliners as weapons in the months before 9/11. Investigators also will claim the nephew was in contact with important al-Qaeda figures.

<snip>

IANA apparently will remain under investigation, as well as the flow of money from the uncle to nephew. <Daily Telegraph, 3/10/2003>

[sarcasmo]

18. Makes you wonder how much the Bank of Saud is holding for W.