Bahrain Mirror: Although the United States says that it does not have final proof of the direct involvement of Saudi officials in the 2001 September 11 attacks, a US Congress investigation details potential ties between two Saudi navy officers and the hijackers.

"According to various FBI documents and CIA memorandum, some of the September 11 hijackers, while in the United States, apparently had contacts with individuals who may be connected to the Saudi Government," the report said, giving a catalog of alleged links.

The 28-page report details contacts between Saudi officials and some of the hijackers, checks from Saudi royals to operatives in contact with the hijackers and the discovery of a telephone number in an al-Qaeda militant's phone book that was traced to a corporation managing an Aspen, Colo., home of Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the then Saudi ambassador to Washington.

FBI files show Saudi agent Omar al-Bayoumi provided "substantial assistance" to Saudi hijackers Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi after they arrived in San Diego in February 2000. Hazmi was the leader of the cell that attacked the Pentagon, while Mihdhar was one of that cell's muscle hijackers. The two even stayed at Bayoumi's apartment, working out in his gym.

At the same time he was aiding the hijackers, Bayoumi was getting large salary increases from a Saudi defense front company tied to Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda, where he worked as a ghost employee. Another alleged Saudi intelligence officer who handled the hijackers, Osama Bassnan, worked closely with Bayoumi.

The most extensive investigation into the attacks was conducted by the September 11 Commission, which pursued many of the leads presented in the 28 pages. The commission's final report, released in 2004, said that the panel had found no evidence that the "Saudi government as an institution, or senior Saudi officials individually funded" Al Qaeda.

Arabic Version