U-S congressional investigators reportedly have concluded that American intelligence agencies failed to thoroughly investigate evidence that could have linked Saudi Arabian officials to the September 11th terrorists.
Details of a report being prepared by a (joint) congressional committee studying last year's attacks are emerging in U-S news media today(Saturday). Accounts quoting senior government officials say the F-B-I and C-I-A failed to follow up on evidence indicating the Saudi government may have indirectly sent money to the terrorists involved in the attacks on New York and Washington.
A report by Newsweek magazine says two Saudi students in California gave money to two of the terrorists involved in the attacks on New York and Washington. Newsweek says the F-B-I is investigating whether the money originated from the bank account of a Saudi princess who is the wife of the kingdom's ambassador to the United States.
The congressional panel handling the probe is expected to complete its classified report in December. Officials familiar with a draft version of the report say it will accuse Saudi officials of failing to cooperate with U-S investigators.
Bush administration officials have responded cautiously, saying it is important not to rush to judgment before the investigation has concluded.
Officials of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Central Intelligence Agency are said to disagree with the committee's preliminary findings. They contend their agents vigorously pursued all available information related to Saudi Arabia.
Fifteen of the 19 hijackers involved in the September 11th suicide attacks were Saudi citizens. More than three-thousand people died when the terrorists seized control of four planes and crashed them into the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon in Washington and a farm field in Pennsylvania.