WASHINGTON/JEDDAH: The US congressional inquiry into 9/11 has cleared Saudi Arabia of suspicions about possible links with the Al-Qaeda, the CIA chief said on Monday.
CIA Director John Brennan made this revelation in an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press”, during which he talked about the 9/11 Commission’s inquiry.
He said a 28-page secret chapter of the commission’s report contained preliminary information about possible Saudi links to the attackers, but these were “uncorroborated and unvetted.”
Brennan said the Commission made “a very clear judgment” that there was no evidence indicating “the Saudi government as an institution or Saudi officials individually” financially backed Al-Qaeda.
To point to Saudi involvement would be “very, very inaccurate,” he said.
Brennan said the relationship between the US and Saudi Arabia remains “very strong.”
Brennan spoke on the 5th anniversary of the killing of Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden in a US commando operation in Pakistan.
Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir had earlier debunked allegations that Saudi Arabia supports extremist groups, saying the Kingdom had in fact been targeted by terrorists for several years, including a wave of bombings by the Al-Qaeda in 2003. In Riyadh alone, simultaneous suicide bombings at three residential compounds killed more than 30 people, including Saudis, Lebanese, Americans, British and Australians.
Saudi Arabia was also targeted by terrorists throughout 2015, with Daesh attacking four mosques in Dammam, Qatif, Abha and Najran, killing 38 and wounding 148.
In August 2015, authorities arrested 421 suspects from four different terror cells related to these crimes, he said.
(Additional input from the Associated Press)
CIA chief cites ‘very strong’ ties with KSA
CIA chief cites ‘very strong’ ties with KSA
