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15 of 19 hijackers were Saudis. Pure coincidence, of course.
The disclosure that 15 of the 19 Sept. 11 hijackers were from Saudi Arabia "is likely to complicate an already tangled and difficult relationship between Washington and Riyadh," reports the New York Times. That's for sure. The Times notes that the Saudis were "deeply offended" that the Bush administration didn't notify them in advance of the terrorist-linked organizations whose assets it was freezing. But the Saudis have not yet joined the effort to block those assets, suggesting that the administration's wariness of Riyadh was justified. Here's a bit of good news out of the oil-rich kingdom: The BBC reports that Sheikh Abdulaziz al-Shaikh, Saudi Arabia's grand mufti--the country's top Islamic cleric, has issued a fatwa (a religious decree) banning the killing of non-Muslims in Muslim countries. British-based Saudi dissident Saad al-Faqih, however, says that, in the BBC's words, "government-appointed clerics like the Grand Mufti have lost almost all credibility in the eyes of the people." Posted by: Fred Pruitt 2001-10-25 |
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