A former al-Qaeda operative imprisoned for life for his role in the September 11th, 2001, attacks has told lawyers for victims of the attacks that members of the Saudi royal family supported the Islamic militant group.
Zacarias Moussaoui made the statements in testimony filed in Manhattan federal court on Tuesday by lawyers for attack victims who accuse Saudi Arabia in a suit of providing material support to al-Qaeda.
He said a list of donors from the late 1990s that he drafted during al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden’s tenure included some “extremely famous” Saudi officials, including Prince Turki al-Faisal Al Saud, a former Saudi intelligence chief.
“Shaykh Osama wanted to keep a record who give money because . . . who is to be listened to or who contribute to the jihad,” said Moussaoui, a 46-year-old French native who pleaded guilty to terrorism charges in 2005.
In Washington, the Saudi embassy said the claims appeared aimed at undermining Saudi-US relations