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02/05 23:38 Saudi Arabia Says 15 of Sept. 11 Hijackers Were Its Citizens By Paul Tighe
Riyadh, Feb. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Saudi Arabia said for the first time 15 of the 19 hijackers behind the Sept. 11 attacks in the U.S. were Saudi citizens, the Associated Press cited Interior Minister Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz as saying.
``The names that we got confirmed that,'' Nayef said in an interview with AP. ``Their families have been notified.''
Saudi authorities detained about 30 people since Sept. 11 based on lists provided by the U.S., he said. Some have been released.
The al-Qaeda terrorist network, organized by Saudi-born Osama bin Laden, is blamed for masterminding the hijacking of civilian planes and using them to destroy the World Trade Center and part of the Pentagon killing more than 3,000 people.
The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation identified 15 of the hijackers as Saudi nationals. Saudi Arabia previously said their citizenship was in doubt. The Saudi government rejected criticism in the U.S. it hasn't done enough to crack down on extremism after the attacks.
The hijackers were ``taken advantage of in the name of religion and regarding certain issues pertaining to the Arab nation, especially the issue of Palestine,'' Nayef told AP.
Saudi Arabia bears no responsibility for the actions of the hijackers, he said.
``This is the truth,'' Nayef said.
There isn't any evidence of al-Qaeda cells operating in the country, though Saudi Arabia will show ``no mercy'' to any al- Qaeda radicals found, Nayef said. The men still in detention ``have been influenced by bin Laden's thinking,'' he said.
Bin Laden, who was stripped of his citizenship in 1994, lived in Afghanistan since 1996 and operated his camps with the approval of the Taliban regime. He hasn't been found since the Taliban were driven from power and U.S. forces began destroying al-Qaeda camps in a military campaign that started with bombing raids Oct. 7.
Asked if he knew whether bin Laden is alive, Nayef told AP: ``we have no information and we have no interest in this subject.''
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