<<<-- DJ Saudi Rights Group:Terror Suspects Trained In Afghanistan --
DUBAI (AP)--Some of the suspects identified by the FBI as being involved in
the hijacking attacks on New York and Washington were trained in military camps
in Afghanistan run by exiled Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden, a Saudi human
rights group said.
The Saudi Institute, a Virginia-based Saudi human rights group, closely
monitors Saudi affairs and in the past has had good information on Saudi
militants. The Saudi government, sensitive to any reports of militancy in the
tightly controlled kingdom, has rebuffed suggestions Saudis may have been
involved in the Sept. 11 attacks in the U.S.
Saudi local newspapers carried interviews with many Saudis who said they were
misidentified by the FBI as suspects in the attacks, and accused the Western
media of laying blame without proof.
The Saudi Institute said that in releasing information about specific
suspects, it hoped to narrow the media investigation focus and thereby "protect
the law-abiding Saudi citizens in (the) U.S. and the innocent Saudis in the
kingdom who may be in danger of arbitrary arrests and severe torture ...."
In its statement released Thursday, the institute said 13 of the 19 suspects
named by the FBI were Saudis and nine of those had traveled to Afghanistan to
join bin Laden.
Rts Grp:Some Suspects Also Fought Russians In Chechnya
The institute said some of the suspects went to Chechnya to join rebels
fighting Russian troops after receiving training in camps in Afghanistan.
Wail Alshehri, who the FBI said was on a flight that crashed into the World
Trade Center, was religious and frequented government-backed religious camps in
the kingdom, the institute said, adding he left for Afghanistan through Pakistan
about 18 months ago.
While in Afghanistan, Alshehri received training in hand-to-hand combat,
bomb-making and poison-mixing, the institute said.
His younger brother, Waleed Alshehri, didn't share Wail Alshehri's religious
enthusiasm, but went to the same mosque Wail Alshehri did and traveled with him
to Afghanistan, the institute said.
It said another brother was a military pilot in Saudi Arabia and their uncle,
Maj. Gen. Faez Alshehri was the director of logistics for the Saudi Armed
forces.
The statement said their father, Mohamed Alshehri, is a wealthy businessman
and a friend of Mohamed bin Laden, Osama bin Laden's father.
A press report in Saudi Arabia quoted the elder Alshehri as saying that his
sons went on a pilgrimage to the holy city of Medina last year and he hadn't
heard from them since.
One of the suspects named by the FBI, Hamza Alghamdi, left for Afghanistan 19
months ago, the institute said. He called his family in July "to ask them for
forgiveness and to pray for him," the institute said.
Another suspect, Nawaq Alhamzi, identified by the institute as Nawaf AlHazmi,
was believed to be part of the group that recruited dozens of Saudis into the
bin Laden network.
Another suspect, Mohald Alshehri, identified by the institute as Mohned
Alshehri, called his family from an undisclosed location in March to say
goodbye, the statement said. The statement said he was a student at Imam
Mohammed bin Saud University, a hotbed of religious activity.
In the past, Saudi Arabia has struggled with internal dissent stemming from
the presence of U.S. troops in the kingdom, the birthplace of Islam.
The Saudi monarchy invited American troops into Saudi Arabia, the site of
Islam's holiest places, Mecca and Medina, at the time of the 1991 Gulf War.
The presence of "infidel" troops on holy land and his conviction Washington
sides with Israel against the Palestinians are the two main reasons Osama bin
Laden has given for declaring war on the U.S. He also has been severely critical
of the Saudi monarchy.
A 1996 bombing killed 19 members of the U.S. Air Force at Khobar Towers, an
eight-story apartment building used as a barracks for American servicemen.
In June, the Saudi Institute provided a list of 13 Saudi suspects linked to
the Khobar attack shortly before U.S. indictments of 13 Saudis and a Lebanese in
the bombing were announced by U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft. The institute
had listed four of the names in the U.S. indictment.
Saudi authorities have criticized the U.S. for issuing its own indictment and
said that they have yet to conclude their investigation and that any trial would
be held only in Saudi Arabia.
(END) DOW JONES NEWS 09-26-01>>> |
