Friday, May 17, 2002

Man, I'm starting to compete with 'ole Instapundit's output. But, here's another fun blast from the past:


Officials told to 'back off' on Saudis before September
11
by Greg Palast and David Pallister

FBI and military intelligence officials in Washington
say they were prevented for political reasons from
carrying out full investigations into members of the
Bin Laden family in the US before the terrorist attacks
of September 11.

US intelligence agencies have come under criticism for
their wholesale failure to predict the catastrophe at
the World Trade Centre. But some are complaining
that their hands were tied.

FBI documents shown on BBC Newsnight last night
and obtained by the Guardian show that they had
earlier sought to investigate two of Osama bin Laden's
relatives in Washington and a Muslim organisation, the
World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY), with which
they were linked.
--------

They said the restrictions became worse after the
Bush administration took over this year. The
intelligence agencies had been told to "back off" from
investigations involving other members of the Bin
Laden family, the Saudi royals, and possible Saudi
links to the acquisition of nuclear weapons by
Pakistan.

"There were particular investigations that were
effectively killed."

Only after the September 11 attacks was the stance of
political and commercial closeness reversed towards
the other members of the large Bin Laden clan, who
have classed Osama bin Laden as their "black sheep"



Over to you, Andy...