White House defends FBI probe into Saudi money

WASHINGTON -- The White House on Saturday defended the FBI's handling of a diplomatically sensitive investigation into reports that Saudi Arabia provided money that helped support two of the Sept. 11 hijackers.

A spokesman for the Saudi embassy said the allegations that the wife of the Saudi ambassador supported terrorists are "untrue and irresponsible."

Nail al-Jubeir, the spokesman, said Princess Haifa al-Faisal is fully cooperating with the FBI.

"She wants her name cleared," al-Jubeir said.

In its defense of the FBI, the Bush administration also denied another contention of some lawmakers -- that the bureau has not done enough to examine fully the financing of the 19 hijackers, 15 of whom were Saudi citizens.

Questions about the investigation could become troublesome for the Bush administration, which is seeking the Saudis' help for a possible military campaign against their neighbor, Iraq. Saudi Arabia has been noncommittal, torn between its friendship with the United States and anti-war sentiment among the Arabs.

Members of the House and Senate intelligence committees, which are conducting a joint inquiry into the Sept. 11 attacks, expressed misgivings about the FBI investigation. Lawmakers believe the bureau has not examined vigorously the prospect that the Saudi government might have given money to two men who provided financial help to hijackers Khalif al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi.

A congressional aide, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the issue is part of a broader concern that the FBI has done too little overall to determine how last year's attacks were paid for and by whom.

Dan Bartlett, an administration spokesman who accompanied President Bush to a NATO summit in Europe, said the FBI has been investigating the Saudi link, "and I'm not going to prejudge the conclusion of that investigation."

"As anyone who knows this issue will tell you, it's very difficult to track financing of terrorist networks, because most of it is done in cash," he said. "I don't agree with the assessment it's not been aggressively pursued."

Sen. Ron Wyden, a member of the Intelligence Committee, would not discuss details of the financing investigation but said, "So much of the focus on Iraq has clearly taken a toll with respect to some of the vigilance and oversight that needs to apply to others in the region."

He also said he has been dissatisfied with Saudi cooperation in the congressional investigation.

"I do think the administration should be pushing the Saudis more to be helpful to our country. I think they need us more than we need them," said Wyden, D-Ore.

On Pentagon plane

Both al-Mihdhar and al-Hazmi were aboard the plane that crashed into the Pentagon. They lived briefly in San Diego and are believed to have received help there from Omar al-Bayoumi and Osama Basnan.

Newsweek reported on its Web site that the FBI uncovered financial records that show payments to an al-Bayoumi bank account from a Washington account in the name of Princess Haifa al-Faisal, wife of the Saudi ambassador and a daughter of the late King Faisal.

Sources said the payments were about $3,500 a month. The money filtered into the al-Bayoumi family's bank account in early 2000, just a few months after al-Mihdhar and al-Hazmi arrived in Los Angeles from an al-Qaida planning conference in Malaysia, Newsweek said.

Payments for roughly the same amount began flowing every month to Basnan.

Al-Jubeir said the princess hasn't given money to al-Bayoumi at all.

"There is absolutely no check," he said.

She did help the Basnan family with a check for $15,000 in April 1998 and regular payments from Dec. 4, 1999 through May, and Saudi officials are trying to find out why they needed assistance, al-Jubeir said.

They do know the wife is sick and received medical treatment in San Diego, he said.

In a statement, the FBI refused to give details of its investigation but said: "Since the terrorist attacks of 9-11, the FBI has aggressively pursued investigative leads regarding terrorist support and activity."

It said al-Bayoumi and Basnan face visa fraud charges. Al-Bayoumi was detained on that charge in Britain, but it was not an extraditable offense and he was released. It is not known whether Basnan is in custody.

Basnan was deported to Saudi Arabia on Nov. 17 and they believe his wife was deported to Jordan two weeks earlier, al-Jubeir said.

"There was no linkage found between them and the terrorists," he said. "The only reason he became a person of interest to the FBI was his relation to al-Bayoumi."

Saudi Arabia has said it is cooperating with the United States in fighting terrorism and considers Osama bin Laden a threat to the kingdom. The alleged terrorist mastermind was born in Saudi Arabia to a wealthy family, but the government has taken away his citizenship.

U.S. presidents have been long reluctant to criticize Saudi Arabia, a major oil producer and a crucial Arab ally. Others have aired suspicions about Saudi ties to the terrorists. A $1 trillion federal lawsuit filed by relatives of the Sept. 11 victims accuses members of the Saudi royal family, the government and Saudi banks and businesses of financing the plot.

In an appearance Friday with President Bush, Russian President Vladimir Putin hinted of a Saudi financial link to terrorists.

"We should not forget about those who finance terrorism," he said, then immediately noted that most of the Sept. 11 hijackers were Saudi.

Preliminary reports from the congressional inquiry have criticized the FBI and CIA's efforts to fight terrorism before the Sept. 11 attacks, particularly their failure to share information before the attacks -- especially intelligence about al-Mihdhar and al-Hazmi.

Wyden said he expects the questions about Saudi financing will be included in the joint inquiry's final report. A classified version is expected in December, an unclassified version early next year.

"It would be derelict not to raise it," he said.