Tag: Prince Abdullah

15 December 2000

Posted on by William Arkin
King Fahd of Saudi Arabia

 

King Fahd of Saudi Arabia telephones George W. Bush to finally congratulate him on being elected president. The Saudi press release reads:

“Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd bin Abdulaziz yesterday telephoned George W. Bush to congratulate him on his election as the 43rd President of the United States of America and wish him every success, stressing the deep-rooted historical relations between the two friendly countries. Deputy Prime Minister and Commander of the National Guard Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdulaziz made a similar telephone call.

Earlier, King Fahd sent a cable of congratulations to the President-Elect, expressing in his own name and on behalf of the people and government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia best wishes for continued success and a good leadership of the American people. He confirmed the ties of friendship that bind the two countries and declared that the Saudi leadership looks forward to enhancing these relations for the sake of consolidating the bases of security, stability and peace not only in the Middle East but in the whole world. Crown Prince Abdullah sent a similar cable, as did Second Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector-Gen Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz.”

In Khobar, site of the June 1996 bombing of the U.S. military base, a terrorist bomb goes off, severely injuring a British citizen.

17 November 1998

Posted on by William Arkin

 

The CIA produces a top-secret intelligence report, “Usama Bin Ladin’s Finances: Some Estimates of Wealth, Income, and Expenditures,” that is unable to estimate the al Qaeda head’s wealth, nor where he was getting money from or how he moved it. The report said that bin Laden was getting financial support from his family in Saudi Arabia and other rich Gulf-based individuals.

In discussing the report, a National Security Council working group on terrorist finances asks the CIA to push again for access to a former al Qaeda official, Madani al Tayyib, who is in Saudi custody. The 9/11 Commission requests that the CIA use its back channels to see “if it is possible to elaborate further on the ties between Usama [sic] bin Ladin and prominent individuals in Saudi Arabia, including especially the Bin Ladin family.” (911 Commission, p. 122).

In September, Vice President Al Gore made a personal appeal to Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah for direct access to al Tayyib. Richard Clarke writes: “Upon learning that much of al Qaeda’s financing came from Saudi Arabia, both from individuals and from quasi-governmental charities, ‘We decided that we needed to have a serious talk with the Saudis as well as with a few of the financial centers in the region. We recognized that the Saudi regime had been largely uncooperative on previous law enforcement-focused investigations of terrorism … so we wanted a different approach … So we asked Vice President Gore to talk to the Crown Prince … We wanted to avoid a typical pattern of Saudi behavior we had seen: achingly slow progress, broken promises, denial, and cooperation limited to specific answers to specific questions … The Saudis protested our focus on continuing contacts between Usama and his wealthy, influential family, who were supposed to have broken off all ties with him. “How can you tell a mother not to call her son,” they asked. (Against all Enemies, pp. 194–195)

The United States never obtained direct access.

22 September 1998

Posted on by William Arkin
Mullah Omar: Qandahar centric; controls military and funds; close ties to UBL and ISID; increasingly suspicious of Rabbani's supporters; key supporters—Foreigh Minister, Governor of Herat, Governor of Mazar-e Sharif

 

Three years before 9/11, the Taliban diplomatic envoy is expelled from Saudi Arabia over the refusal of the government in Kandahar to hand over Osama Bin Laden.

After the African embassy bombings in August 1998, Washington sought Saudi Arabia’s help in forging a break between the Taliban and bin Laden, specifically in getting Mullah Omar to eject bin Laden from the country.

Prince Turki bin Faisal (also known as Turki al-Faisal)—head of Saudi intelligence and bin Laden’s earlier sponsor during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan—went to Afghanistan to meet with Omar, head of the Taliban. The meeting is the stuff of legend, the powerful Saudi prince being not just rebuffed and insulted, but treated with less than princely dignity, and leaving in a swirl of robes.

When the Taliban ambassador was expelled from Riyadh, Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah happened to be in the United States on a visit and met at the White House with President Clinton and Vice President Al Gore. He reported on the earlier Turki visit to Afghanistan and expressed Saudi frustration with the unorthodox regime. Saudi Arabia wouldn’t formally break off diplomatic relations with the Taliban until September 25, 2001.