...but I have found yet another article that holds that certain highly placed Saud Family members in the Saudia Arabia are in touch with Bin Laden and support Bin Laden.

The article is from a Greek newspaper [i]Kathimerini[/i] and may be found at:
[url]http://www.ekathimerini.com/news/content.asp?aid=102375[/url]

"As Western security agencies intensify their search for possible cells of Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda terrorist group, reliable Arab diplomatic sources in Athens said yesterday that the network could have a very different and far more dangerous dimension. They claim that bin Laden's network is not made up only of illegal, dissident groups [u]but has managed to infiltrate the military, the secret services and even government circles of Arab states, including the two leading countries of the Arab world, Saudi Arabia and Egypt[/u].

"According to these sources, [u]the heart of bin Laden's network is not in Afghanistan but in the country of his birth, Saudi Arabia.[/u] It is well known that bin Laden, a member of the Saudi economic elite, enjoyed close ties with the royal family during the war against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. He clashed with the family when King Fahd allied himself with the United States in the Gulf War and after the bomb attack against US forces in Riyadh in November 1995.

"What is not known is that bin Laden never severed his ties with the strongest member of the Saudi royal family, Prince Abdullah, who, in effect, is ruling the kingdom as Fahd has been confined to a wheelchair. Abdullah, the crown prince, is not favored by Washington because of his disapproval of the US military presence but also because of his strong anti-Israeli position on the Palestinian issue. Well-informed diplomatic sources of another Arab country say that Abdullah kept in touch with bin Laden through the Saudi secret service chief, Prince Turki, who disappeared in late August."

'Curiouser and curiouser!' said Alice.

Eric The(MadHatter)Hun[>]:)]

A [u]Greek[/u] Newspaper Eric?

You have WAY too much time on your hands bud.

The House of Saud is scared shitless of bin Laden. He is the greatest threat to the continued rule of the throne.
That said, I do have no doubt that he is being "paid off" under the table by members of the royal house in an attempt to keep him at bay. Egypt is eaten up, all the terrorist attacks against western tourist in the past decade attest to that. Also, so many of the terrorist are Egyptian.
That is why, if the United States does not do this properly, the entire balance of power in the region could change. And the thought of zealots, that make Iran look down right moderate and friendly, scares me. This could very well end up being the 21st Century Crusades of Western Civilization vs. 13th century Islamic dogma.

Like, no offense, but this has been public knowledge. Last year, some Saudi Prince gave an address during Ramadan at Mecca denoucing US imperialism. I mean come on, if the ruling monarchy didn't have some elements of support to Bin Laden, do you think they would have allowed their citizens to virutally bank roll the Taliban? Saudi Arabia is basically no different from Afghanistan when it comes to laws and oppression of women. The Taliban jsut ups the ante a little.

themao [chainsawkill]

Post from Gene Stoner -

Yeah, you're probably right.

Eric The(Bored)Hun[>]:)]

So would a [u]Scottish[/u] newspaper be better?

See article at:
[url]http://thescotsman.co.uk/world.cfm?id=113639[/url]

Excerpt from article -

"Every nation in every region has a decision to make," President George Bush declared in his address to Congress. "Either you are with us or you are with the terrorists." Working from that shorthand, America has come to some rapid conclusions in this newest world order about who are its friends and who aren’t.

"The results have been Orwellian indeed. Nuclear proliferation is off the agenda with Pakistan. It is forgotten, for now, that Iran sponsors Hamas or Hezbollah - as long as they drop al-Qaeda. [u][b]America looks askance at Saudi Arabia, it’s Gulf War ally, for its ties to bin Laden.[/b][/u] It risks outraging Ariel Sharon, and it conveniently forgets Russian atrocities in Chechnya.
*  *  *
"[u][b]Saudi Arabia has finally severed relations with the Taleban, accusing it of defaming Muslims by "harbouring criminals and terrorists". But the Gulf War ally has declined to clamp down on financial transactions which have allowed sympathetic Saudis to funnel cash to bin Laden’s network[/b][/u]."

Eric The(LittleToDo)Hun[>]:)]