(Boston Herald) - A largely unnoticed federal operation to help some 140 Saudi citizens, including members of Osama bin Laden's family, flee the U.S. by private plane immediately following the Sept. 11 terror attacks deserves further scrutiny now. The question is whether the FBI let any witnesses or participants in the Sept. 11 horror slip through its fingers. Despite the restrictions on U.S. airspace in the chaotic aftermath of the attacks, an aircraft chartered by the Saudi government was allowed to fly to some 10 U.S. cities, including Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Houston, and Boston to gather selected Saudi nationals and return them home, ostensibly to protect them from misdirected retribution. An article in the current Vanity Fair quotes the former head of counterterrorism for the FBI, Dale Watson, as saying the fleeing Saudis "were not subject to serious interviews or interrogations.''
2003-09-10 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive