'Saudis knew of plot to down Air Force One'
A convicted terrorist has claimed that Saudi Arabian officials supported al-Qaeda financially in the years leading up to 9/11 and discussed shooting down Air Force One during Bill Clinton's presidency.
Zacarias Moussaoui made the claims, which Saudi officials deny, in a statement submitted from a maximum security prison in the US where he is serving a life sentence for conspiring in the 2001 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.
His testimony – which was not subject to cross examination – was part of a lawsuit by relatives of the victims against Saudi Arabia, he claimed prominent members of the Saudi royal family donated significant amounts to al-Qaeda in the late 1990s, the New York Times reported.
Moussaoui, who attended London's South Bank University, also claimed that he discussed shooting down the US President's plane with a Stinger missile with a member of staff from the Saudi Embassy in Washington.
In a statement refuting his latest allegations, a spokesperson at the embassy said there was “no evidence“ to support Moussaoui's claim.
The 9/11 Commission Report found no evidence that any government other than the Taliban supported al-Qaeda before 9/11.
More than 100 pages of Moussaoui's testimony, given to lawyers inside the ADX Florence prison in Colorado in October, were filed in federal court in New York this week, Sky News reported.
Zacarias has made similar accusations before and his credibility has been repeatedly put in doubt, even by bin Laden himself, who released a tape before he was killed by American special forces denying the jihadist's claims that he was instructed to attack the White House with a Boeing 747 on 9/11, CNN reported.
Comments