JEDDAH, 3 September 2003 — Saudi Ambassador to London Prince Turki Al-Faisal, accused in a new book "Why America Slept" of establishing relations with Osama Bin Laden, has strongly rejected the allegation. A number of US officials also dismissed the book's claims.
"This information is totally false and groundless," Prince Turki told Asharq Al-Awsat, a sister publication of Arab News.
"I have had no contacts with Bin Laden since 1990, and have never had contacts with Al-Qaeda, which is a satanic terrorist organization," he added.
Prince Turki said he had spent years trying to bring Bin Laden to justice. "Saudi Arabia revoked Osama's citizenship in 1994," the ambassador said, condemning attempts to link him and the Kingdom with Al-Qaeda and its activities.
Prince Turki made the remarks after reading a review of "Why America Slept" in the latest issue of Time magazine.
US officials have also dismissed claims in the book, with one saying that it was an attempt to "sensationalize" the issue and a US intelligence official describing the allegations in the book as "absurd". These claims have no meaning at all, the intelligence official told the French news agency.
The book's absurdity reached its peak when it implicated Saudi personalities who had played no role in either Saudi politics or intelligence, like the late Prince Ahmed ibn Salman, the late Prince Sultan ibn Faisal ibn Turki and the late Prince Fahd ibn Turki ibn Saud Al-Kabir.
In a recent press statement, Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal also rejected the baseless allegations mentioned in the book. "How can a country, which has seven decades of strong ties with the US, suddenly become its No. 1 enemy," he asked.
"These are theories propagated by certain adventurers who, having a narrow view of the world, do not accept cultural and social diversity," the minister said.
Gerald L. Posner, the book's author, says that Abu Obaida, an Al-Qaeda leader in US custody since Aug. 28, 2002, revealed information to US intelligence agents about alleged links between Saudi nationals and Bin Laden. The book did not mention any specific source.
Speaking about the author, a former lawyer on Wall Street, a Washington source wondered how Posner gathered the information in eight months when the US failed to solve the Bin Laden problem since the Sept. 11, 2001 events.
"A book of this size requires years of careful study and fact-finding," the source told the newspaper.
The source also pointed out that Congress had taken a long time to prepare a report on the Sept. 11 attacks and this required gathering information from hundreds of witnesses. "It is difficult to believe that an official in US intelligence would reveal incidents of torture during investigations," the source said. The review in Time Magazine also highlighted the issue.
