Saudi diplomats linked to 9/11 plot: Fresh evidence links Saudi government

[MikeWB]

Saudi diplomats linked to 9/11 plot

A document written by two US investigators examines the possible roles of foreign governments in the attacks
Sara K. Schwittek/ Reuters

Rhys Blakely Washington
Published at 12:01AM, April 20 2016
New evidence has come to light of a possible link between Saudi Arabian officials and the 9/11 terrorist attacks, further raising tensions as President Obama travels to the kingdom.

Ghassan Al-Sharbi, a Saudi who became an al-Qa'ida bomb maker, is believed to have taken flying lessons with some of the 9/11 hijackers in Arizona but did not take part in the attacks on New York and the Pentagon that killed 3,000 people in 2001.

He was captured in Pakistan in 2002 and has since been held at Guantanamo Bay. According to a US memo — known as document 17 — written in 2003 and quietly declassified last year, the FBI learnt that he had buried a cache of papers shortly before he was captured.

Document 17 was written by two US investigators examining the possible roles of foreign governments in the attacks. One detail leapt out at them from the papers that Sharbi had tried to hide: his US flight certificate was in an envelope from the Saudi embassy in Washington.

Brian McGlinchey, the activist who uncovered document 17, said: "The envelope points to the fundamental question hanging over us today: to what extent was the 9/11 plot facilitated by individuals at the highest levels of the Saudi government?"

President Obama is expected to meet on Wednesday with King Salman, whose kingdom is under pressure from low oil prices, an emboldened Iran and Washington's tougher stance. The Saudi government threatened last week to dump $750 billion in US Treasury securities and other American assets if congress passes a bill that would clear a path for the families of 9/11 victims to file lawsuits against the kingdom. Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, the Democratic presidential candidates, backed the bill, which Mr Obama has signalled he will veto.

Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, the leading Republicans in the race, have warned Saudi Arabia that its relationship with the US must change. "Friends do not fund jihadists that are seeking to murder us," Mr Cruz said.

Mr Obama also faces calls to release a redacted 28-page portion of a joint congressional report on the 9/11 attacks, produced in 2002 and thought to link senior Saudi figures to the plot. He suggested on Monday that a decision was imminent.

The pages are in a secure room beneath the US Capitol. Congressmen can read them, but are watched to make sure they do not make notes. Thomas Massie, a Republican from Kentucky, said: "I had to stop every couple of pages ... to rearrange my understanding of history."

Bob Graham, a former chairman of the US senate intelligence committee, has alleged that Saudi Arabia was the principal financier of 9/11. "The effect of withholding [the pages] has been to embolden Saudi Arabia to be a continuing source of financial and human terror resources," he said.

Document 17, written by Dana Lesemann and Michael Jacobson, will deepen suspicions. Ms Lesemann is said to have been sacked from the 9/11 commission after she circumvented her boss to access the 28 pages.

Mr Jacobson was the principal author of the 28 pages, and document 17 hints at his suspicions. "How aggressively has the US government investigated possible ties between the Saudi government and/or royal family and the September 11th attacks?" it asks.

The Times
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/world/americas/article4735609.ece?CMP=OTH-gnws-standard-2016_04_19







Fresh evidence links Saudi government to 9/11: Flight certificate of would-be bomber found in embassy envelope buried underground

    Terrorist certificate placed in envelope from Saudi embassy in Washington
    Details sparked concerns government may have links to the terror attacks
    Comes as President Obama starts visit to the country with defense chief
    Emerged as row over whether to declassify 28 pages of papers continues

Fresh information allegedly connecting the government of Saudi Arabia and the 9/11 terror attacks has been released.

Officials have revealed that the flight certificate of Al-Qaeda bomb maker Ghassan Al-Sharbi was discovered hidden in an envelope from the Saudi embassy in Washington when they arrested him in 2002.

Al-Sharbi is believed to have learned how to fly with the hijackers but did not take part in the attacks. Shortly before his arrest, he buried a bundle of documents, which is believed to have included the certificate.

The cache was discovered by US authorities and details, written in a memo known as Document 17 in 2003, were released without fanfare by investigators last year. They were only brought to the public's attention when an activist discovered them and wrote about them on his website earlier this week.

The release has fuelled concerns the Saudi government may have been linked to the coordinated attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people.

Activist Brian McGlinchey claimed the details would lead to people questioning the extent government individuals were involved, according to The Times.

He said: 'The envelope points to the fundamental question hanging over us today: to what extent was the 9/11 plot facilitated by individuals at the highest levels of the Saudi government?'

The claims are highly significant as President Obama arrived in Saudi Arabia this morning so he could meet with officials.

It also comes as the row over whether or not to declassify 28 pages of sealed documents about the attacks continues.

One senator claimed earlier this month that Obama would make a decision on whether the papers, which are rumored to expose Saudi's connection to the attacks, would be released within 60 days.

There have long been questions over the country's involvement in the attacks, which saw hijackers ambush four passenger jets and crash them into the World Trade Center towers in New York, the Pentagon and a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

Fifteen of the 19 hijackers were Saudi and Osama bin Laden, who devised the terrorist attack and was the former head of Al-Qaeda before he was killed in 2011, was the son of a billionaire with close ties to the country's royal family.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3549402/Fresh-evidence-links-Saudi-government-9-11-Flight-certificate-bomber-embassy-envelope-buried-underground.html