Washington, Nov 24: An aide to Crown Prince Abdullah denied on Saturday that the Saudi government had sent money to two of the hijackers in the September 11 attacks and said his country was pursuing al Qaeda mercilessly. Adel al-Jubeir, foreign policy adviser to the kingdom's de facto ruler, told a private news channel from Riyadh that Saudi officials had worked closely with the FBI in investigating the allegations when they first emerged "seven or eight months ago".

US sources said on Friday that a congressional inquiry into issues related to the September 11, 2001 attacks was investigating a possible money trail from the Saudi government to two of the hijackers, Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi.

Asked if the Saudi government had sent money to the hijackers, al-Jubeir replied: "There is no evidence to that effect whatsoever." Bureau Report