Washington, Aug 02: Classified sections of US Congress' September 11 report lay out a web of connections among Saudi businessmen, royal family, charities and banks that may have aided al-Qaeda or the suicide hijackers, according to people who have seen the report.
The report raises the possibility that one or more Saudi men who were connected to some of the hijackers or their acquaintances were tied to Saudi intelligence. It also suggests a Muslim Imam in the United States may have been a facilitator for some hijackers, the sources said, speaking only on condition of anonymity.
US investigators are setting out anew to determine whether the connections are innocent coincidences in an Islamic culture that urges charitable support or a pattern of pro-terror money and patronage flowing from the wealthy kingdom that is a longtime US ally, according to government officials familiar with those efforts.

Some of the most sensitive information in a 28-page classified section of the report involves what US agencies are doing currently to investigate Saudi business figures and organizations, the officials said.
The Congressional investigators, however, warn the leads they have dug up for the FBI and CIA to pursue are at times contradictory or circumstantial. US intelligence and FBI investigators view the evidence of ties to Saudi intelligence as unclear, the officials said.


Bureau Report