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'Turki al-Faisal's former links to extremists needs clarification'
 WASHINGTON: The appointment of former Saudi intelligence chief Prince Turki al-Faisal as ambassador to the United States should be the occasion for Riyadh to clear up its past relations with Islamic extremists and terrorists, the New York Times said Sunday. Pointing to his former oversight of Saudi Arabia's relationship with Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Muhammad Omar, Prince Turki represents the Saudis' longstanding ambiguous relationship with Islamic extremism, the Times said in an editorial. "His appointment should stimulate serious discussion of the darker aspects of Saudi Arabia's historic relations with the world of Islamic extremists and terrorists," the newspaper said. While stressing that Turki is "neither a terrorist nor a religious zealot", the Times said he was closely connected to Saudi Arabia's decades of aggressive Islamic diplomacy, some of which eventually spawned militant extremist groups like Al Qaeda and the Taliban. Posted by: Fred 2005-08-02 |
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| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=125661 |