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EDITOR'S NOTE:
The following item of interest features the full text of the 9/11
Commission's findings on the flights of Saudi nationals leaving the United
States after September 11, 2001.
9/11 Commission Report --
Saudi Arabia
Flights of Saudi Nationals Leaving
the United States
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Flights
of Saudi Nationals Leaving the United States
[Excerpt from pages 329-330]
Three questions have arisen with respect to
the departure of Saudi nationals from the United States in the immediate aftermath
of 9/11: (1) Did any flights of Saudi nationals take place before the
national airspace reopened on September 13, 2001? (2) Was there any
political intervention to facilitate the departure of Saudi nationals?
(3) Did the FBI screen Saudi nationals thoroughly before their departure?
First, we found no evidence that any flights
of Saudi nationals, domestic or international, took place before the reopening
of national airspace on the morning of September 13, 2001. To the
contrary, every flight we have identified occurred after national airspace
reopened.
Second, we found no evidence of political
intervention. We found no evidence that anyone at the White House above
the level of Richard Clarke participated in a decision on the departure of
Saudi nationals. The issue came up in one of the many video
teleconferences of the interagency group Clarke chaired, and Clarke said he
approved of how the FBI was dealing with the matter when it came up for
interagency discussion at his level. Clarke told us, "I asked the
FBI, Dale Watson .. to handle that, to check to see if that was all right with
them, to see if they wanted access to any of these people, and to get back to
me. And if they had no objections, it would be fine with me."
Clarke added, "I have no recollection of clearing it with anybody at the
White House."
Although the White House Chief of Staff Andrew
Card remembered someone telling him about the Saudi request shortly after
9/11, he said he had not talked to the Saudis and did not ask anyone to do
anything about it. The President and Vice President told us they were
not aware of the issue at all until it surfaced much later in the media.
None of the officials we interviewed recalled any intervention or direction on
this matter from any political appointee.
Third, we believe that the FBI conducted a satisfactory
screening of Saudi nationals who left the United States on charter
flights. The Saudi government was advised of and agreed to the FBI's requirements
that passengers be identified and checked against various databases before the
flights departed. The Federal Aviation Administration representative
working in the FBI operations center made sure that the FBI was aware of the
flights of Saudi nationals and was able to screen the passengers before they
were allowed to depart.
The FBI interviewed all persons of interest on
these flights prior to their departures. They concluded that none of the
passengers was connected to the 9/11 attacks and have since found no evidence
to change that conclusion. Our own independent review of the Saudi
nationals involved confirms that no one with known links to terrorism departed
on these flights.
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