- News>
- Literary Corner
Al-Qaeda operative narrates Osama-Pak-Saudi connections
New York, Sept 03: An al Qaeda operative now in American custody has made startling revelations about secret connections linking Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the terror network`s chief Osama bin Laden, a new book says.
New York, Sept 03: An al Qaeda operative now in American custody has made startling revelations about secret connections linking Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the terror network's chief Osama bin Laden, a new book says.
Author Gerald Posner details Abu Zubaydah's confessions to his interrogators as to how Osama bin Laden "personally" told him of a 1991 meeting at which Saudi had agreed to let the al-Qaeda chief leave the country.
This was assured by Prince Turki al-Faisal bin Abdul Aziz, the long-time intelligence chief, who agreed to let Osama leave and provide him with secret funds as long as al-Qaeda refrained from promoting jihad in the kingdom.
A Pakistani contact revealed by Zubaydah, high-ranking air force officer Mushaf Ali Mir, entered the equation at a 1996 meeting in Pakistan which the al-Qaeda captive also attended.
Osama struck a deal with Mir, then in the military but tied closely to Islamists in Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), to get protection, arms and supplies for al-Qaeda. Abu Zubaydah told his interrogators that bin Laden said the arrangement was "blessed by the Saudis," according to Posner.
Zubaydah said he attended a third meeting in Kandahar in 1998 with Turki, senior ISI agents and Taliban officials.
There Turki promised, writes Posner, that "more Saudi aid would flow to the Taliban, and the Saudis would never ask for bin Laden's extradition, so long as al-Qaeda kept its long-standing promise to direct fundamentalism away from the kingdom." More The book seems certain to kick up a political and diplomatic firestorm, Time writes. The first question everyone will ask is, Is it true? And many will wonder if these matters were addressed in the 28-pages censored from Washington's official report on 9/11.
It has long been suggested, Time notes, that Saudi Arabia probably had some kind of secret arrangement to stave off fundamentalists within the kingdom.
But, the magazine says, this appears to be the first description of a repeated, explicit quid pro quo between bin Laden and a Saudi official.
The second source, Posner said, was from the CIA, and he gave what Posner viewed as general confirmation of the story but did not repeat the details.
There are top Bush Administration officials who have for long taken a hostile view of Saudi behavior regarding terrorism and might want to leak Zubaydah's claims, Time notes.
Author Gerald Posner details Abu Zubaydah's confessions to his interrogators as to how Osama bin Laden "personally" told him of a 1991 meeting at which Saudi had agreed to let the al-Qaeda chief leave the country.
This was assured by Prince Turki al-Faisal bin Abdul Aziz, the long-time intelligence chief, who agreed to let Osama leave and provide him with secret funds as long as al-Qaeda refrained from promoting jihad in the kingdom.
A Pakistani contact revealed by Zubaydah, high-ranking air force officer Mushaf Ali Mir, entered the equation at a 1996 meeting in Pakistan which the al-Qaeda captive also attended.
Osama struck a deal with Mir, then in the military but tied closely to Islamists in Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), to get protection, arms and supplies for al-Qaeda. Abu Zubaydah told his interrogators that bin Laden said the arrangement was "blessed by the Saudis," according to Posner.
Zubaydah said he attended a third meeting in Kandahar in 1998 with Turki, senior ISI agents and Taliban officials.
There Turki promised, writes Posner, that "more Saudi aid would flow to the Taliban, and the Saudis would never ask for bin Laden's extradition, so long as al-Qaeda kept its long-standing promise to direct fundamentalism away from the kingdom." More The book seems certain to kick up a political and diplomatic firestorm, Time writes. The first question everyone will ask is, Is it true? And many will wonder if these matters were addressed in the 28-pages censored from Washington's official report on 9/11.
It has long been suggested, Time notes, that Saudi Arabia probably had some kind of secret arrangement to stave off fundamentalists within the kingdom.
But, the magazine says, this appears to be the first description of a repeated, explicit quid pro quo between bin Laden and a Saudi official.
The second source, Posner said, was from the CIA, and he gave what Posner viewed as general confirmation of the story but did not repeat the details.
There are top Bush Administration officials who have for long taken a hostile view of Saudi behavior regarding terrorism and might want to leak Zubaydah's claims, Time notes.
The details of Zubaydah's drug-induced confessions might bring on charges that the U.S. Is using torture on terror suspects.
According to Posner, the Administration decided shortly after 9/11 to permit the use of Sodium Pentothal on prisoners.
The Administration, he writes, "privately believes that the Supreme Court has implicitly approved using such drugs in matters where public safety is at risk," citing a 1963 opinion.
Bureau Report