Saudi Arabia’s tradition of charitable giving to Muslim causes may have been exploited by al-Qaida to raise money for the Sept. 11 attacks, analysts said Saturday as the Saudi government refuted allegations of links to terrorists. A Congressional report on the Sept. 11 terror attacks examines interactions between Saudi businessmen and the royal family that may have intentionally or unwittingly aided al-Qaida or the suicide hijackers, according to people who have seen the unreleased sections. The editor-in-chief of the pan-Arab Asharq al-Awsat newspaper suggested that al-Qaida, headed by Saudi-born and educated Osama bin Laden, had knowledge of Saudi society and laws and took advantage of both to collect funds. “The reality that the (Congressional) committee sought not to admit is that al-Qaida is a highly developed organization, extremely secretive, and took advantage of the benevolence and naivete of Saudis,” Abdul-Rahman al-Rashid wrote in Saturday’s Arab News newspaper. Full Story
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