Khalid Shaikh Mohammed
Posted on 09/11/2003 10:41:43 PM PDT by JohnHuang2
The self-described mastermind behind the Sept. 11 terror attacks says it was no accident 15 of the 19 suicide hijackers were Saudis and that they were used for practical and "political" reasons.
Khalid Shaikh Mohammed |
Khalid Shaikh Mohammed told his CIA interrogators the Saudis were initially chosen because it was easier for them to get visas than for recruits from other Arab countries like Yemen, a Saudi official with direct knowledge of Mohammed's interrogations told reporters in Washington this week.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he learned about the conversation with Mohammed from U.S. officials. CIA officials declined to comment on the interrogation. United Press International said another unnamed diplomat confirmed the information.
Mohammed was arrested in Pakistan last March and remains in U.S. custody in an undisclosed location.
According to the Saudi official, Mohammed said al-Qaida leaders thought the nationality would not "ring a bell" when it came to security screening."
They were right. Prior to 9-11, the focus of screening was preventing Saudis from overstaying their visas and settling in the U.S. UPI reports Saudi Arabia was one of several countries where the "Visa Express" program operated, in which travel agencies or other middlemen assisted applicants with filling out forms and delivered their documents to the embassy. Under this program, less than one in 10 applicants were interviewed and the vast majority were nodded through.
"If they [did] not appear on criminal or terrorist watch lists they [were] granted a visa," CIA Director George Tenet testified before the congressional panel probing Sept. 11 last year.
As WorldNetDaily was first to report last September, all Saudi males aged 16 to 45 seeking U.S. visas must now register and be fingerprinted and photographed under a Justice Department policy that took effect Oct. 1.
According to the Saudi official, Mohammed said al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden changed the original plan and personally insisted Saudis carry out the attack for "political reasons." He hoped to drive a wedge between the U.S. and the kingdom and knew a Saudi-dominated attack would strain relations.
"They wanted to strike Saudi Arabia as much as they wanted to hit the United States," the New York Times quotes the official as saying.
Adel al-Jubeir, foreign policy adviser to Crown Prince Abdullah, made the same assertion during a press conference held last December to deflect mounting criticism the kingdom was not sincere in its pledge to stem the financing of terrorism.
At that time – and repeatedly since – al-Jubeir rejected the significance of the majority of the hijackers being Saudis.
When asked if the kingdom bears some responsibility for Sept. 11, al-Jubeir responded: "There is responsibility to go around for everyone. If you look at Sept. 11 it was conceived in Afghanistan, it was planned in Germany, it was funded in Dubai, it was executed in America and they used Saudis. Everyone has a responsibility and everyone has an obligation to work together in order to make sure this doesn't happen again."
U.S. counterrorism officials scoff at the alleged political motivation behind al-Qaida's reliance on Saudis and point to a more obvious reason: there was a willing pool of recruits.
"Saudi Arabia is a place where there is a reservoir of discontent and extremism," a State Department official told UPI, "the Saudis had a terrorism problem which they've only just started to come to terms with."
"According to the Saudi official, Mohammed said al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden changed the original plan and personally insisted Saudis carry out the attack for "political reasons." He hoped to drive a wedge between the U.S. and the kingdom and knew a Saudi-dominated attack would strain relations.""A primary objective of the strategy here is to achieve a partnership with the fundamentalists in Iran and Algeria and to replace the present American-oriented rulers of Saudi Arabia with fundamentalists. The opening in Saudi Arabia of a Russian Embassy and the probable opening of Embassies by Muslim states of the CIS should be seen, not only as an attempt to extract a few extra Saudi billions, but as part of an offensive to bring about a political reorientation in that country."
That way, we'll be better able to identify their remains after the next act of suicide-terrorism.
When is the US going to get serious about closing our open borders and denying all visas to members of states sponsoring terrorism!
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